The Kirkwood Eagles were not getting a whole lot accomplished in their men's basketball game against Black Hawk College Saturday afternoon when Coach Bryan Petersen reached deep into his bench and sent Al'Tavius Jackson onto the floor.

The 6-foot-1 freshman got things going in a hurry.

Jackson tossed in eight points with an impressive flurry late in the first half and finished with a career-best 18 points to help the second-ranked Eagles roll Black Hawk, 97-69, at Johnson Hall.

Jackson had not played in Kirkwood's last four games and had scored only 18 points all season. He matched that output in a single showing as the Eagles raised their record to 11-1.

Jackson had no idea he was going to get the call with his team locked in a tight battle in the first half, but he was happy to get a chance to prove himself and help his club.

"You always have to look to create something," he said. "You always have to be ready, because you never know when you're going to go in. You have to contribute to your team in a positive manner."

The sluggish Eagles were clinging to a 28-27 lead in the first half and were having trouble trying to score against Black Hawk's zone defense, but Jackson changed all that.

He popped in a 3-pointer for a 31-27 lead, hit another triple for a 36-31 advantage and made a driving layup at the buzzer to give Kirkwood a 41-31 advantage at halftime.

Petersen, obviously happy with Jackson's performance, gave him another chance early in the second half and he drilled another 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and give the Eagles a 50-38 margin. All told, Jackson shot 6-for-7 from the floor, canned all four of his 3-pointers and was 2-for-2 at the foul line.

Perhaps most impressive of all, he scored all 18 of his points in just 12 minutes of action.

"He was great. He came in and sparked us," said Petersen. "The first half we weren't playing very well."

Petersen said Jackson has been working on his outside shot in practice and the coach was looking for someone to pop in a few 3-pointers against that zone defense by Black Hawk.

"It gave him an opportunity to go in there and he delivered, which was huge," said Petersen. "It opened things up a little bit more and our confidence got going a little bit more against that zone.

"It was cool to see, because he hadn't played in the last few games. Getting an opportunity like that, some kids might not be ready. He was ready."

Jackson had not played in a game since Nov. 18, when he scored two points in a victory over the Coe junior varsity. He hadn't made a 3-pointer all season and did not play when Kirkwood trimmed Black Hawk, 73-68, in their first meeting in Moline, Ill., two weeks ago.

"You have to be ready," he said. "You have to practice hard and be ready at game time. And I was."

Jackson grew up in Georgia and moved to Wisconsin with his family when he was 14. He attended Saukville High School in Wisconsin and had several offers to play Division II basketball at four-year schools in college, but none of those offers felt right.

"I couldn't find anything close to home," he said. "On my visit here I felt like I could see myself here. It looked like a great fit for me at the time."

Jackson was not the only player to spark the Eagles off the bench. Kaliph Fagan contributed 14 points, Byron Harp and Cristen Wilson chipped in with seven points apiece and Shakur Triplett added six. Kirkwood's reserves contributed 52 points to the victory, compared to 45 points by the starters.

"We have some kids on our bench who could probably start for us," said Petersen. "We just kind of have our set rotation, to a certain degree."

Hunter Rhodes hit four 3-pointers and led Kirkwood's starters with 14 points and six assists.

The Eagles wound up hitting 33 of 56 shots for a slick 58.9 percent from the field, including a 12 for 25 showing on 3-pointers for 48 percent. In addition, Kirkwood collected 20 assists to only five turnovers.

Brian Richardson scored 16 points for Black Hawk (4-7).

Kirkwood has a big home game Wednesday night against Iowa Western, which handed Kirkwood its only loss of the season Nov. 21 in Council Bluffs, 92-83.

"We've got a big one coming up on Wednesday," Petersen noted. "It should be a great atmosphere."

BLACK HAWK (69): Cole 5 0-0 12, Fisher 0 0-0 0, Richardson 6 0-0 16, Epping 4 1-1 9, Vice 5 2-2 13, Stewart 0 0-0 0, R.Terronez 0 0-0 0, Holt 0 0-0 0, Johnson 6 0-0 12, Lewis 2 0-0 4, McDowell 0 1-2 1, M.Terronez 0 0-0 0, Rogers 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 4-5 69.

KIRKWOOD (97): Bartlett 4 0-0 9, Rhodes 4 2-2 14, Richards 1 3-3 5, Olson 2 3-3 8, Meier 3 3-5 9, Woods 0 0-0 0, Jackson 6 2-2 18 Harp 2 2-2 7, Fagan 5 3-3 14, Wilson 3 1-2 7, Bonds 0 0-0 0, Triplett 3 0-0 6. Totals 33 19-22 97.

Halftime - Kirkwood 41, Black Hawk 31. 3-point goals - Black Hawk 7 (Richardson 4, Cole 2, Vice 1), Kirkwood 12 (Rhodes 4, Jackson 4, Bartlett 1, Olson 1, Harp 1, Fagan 1).