Miles Wentzien scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds Saturday  afternoon as the top-ranked Kirkwood Eagles trimmed Illinois Central, 76-69, in a men's basketball game at Johnson Hall.

The game was tied, 63-63, with less than four minutes remaining, but  the Eagles marched to the foul line and made 13 of 14 free throws in  the last 3 minutes, 15 seconds to secure the victory.

Kirkwood was hot at the charity stripe all day, sinking 39 of 46 free  throws for 84.8 percent. The Eagles made only 14 field goals in the ballgame and made only five two-point shots, but they won the game  with a 39-19 bulge in free throws.

Wentzien and Kaliph Fagan shot 9-for-10 at the foul line, Harp was  7-for-8 and Chris King was 6-for-6. Harp snapped the 63-63 tie with a pair of free throws and Fagan followed with a pair to make it 67-63.

Fagan finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Harp had 12 points  and four assists. Da'Rion King contributed eight points and nine rebounds. Chris King had nine points and three assists.

There were nine ties in the ballgame and 12 lead changes. Neither team  led by double digits.

Kirkwood raised its record to 7-2.

ILLINOIS CENTRAL (69): Bolden 1 0-0 2, Conway 3 3-8 10, Williams 4 2-4  10, Stinson 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 2-4 4, Dixon-Williams 5 6-7 17, Louderman  0 0-0 0, Gilkey 0 0-0 0, Carter 0 0-0 0, Cievas 5 0-0 14, Gordon 1 1-3  3, Bradford 0 2-3 2, Long 0 0-0 0, Porter 2 3-3 7. Totals 22 19-32 69.

KIRKWOOD (76): Harp 2 7-8 12, Wentzien 6 9-10 25, Fagan 1 9-10 12,  Marble 1 0-0 3, D.King 2 4-8 8, Triplett 0 2-2 2, Jackson 1 2-2 5, Meeker 0 0-0 0, C.King 1 6-6 9, Howard 0 0-0 0, Oliver 0 0-0 0, Henry  0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 39-46 76.

Halftime - Kirkwood 41, Illinois Central 38. 3-point goals - Illinois  Central 6 (Cievas 4, Conway 1, Dixon-Williams 1), Kirkwood 9 (Wentzien 4, Harp 1, Fagan 1, Marble 1, Jackson 1, C.King 1).