Kirkwood assistant coach Quincy Young had a lengthy telephone conversation with Doug Wagemester after the Eagles played Marshalltown Wednesday night, giving the absent head coach a full report on what happened at Johnson Hall.

It wasn't good.

Kirkwood fell behind by 20 points in the second half and lost to the undefeated Tigers, 71-57, in a non-conference junior college basketball game.

Wagemester had to serve an automatic one-game suspension after being ejected from Kirkwood's previous contest against Black Hawk College on Nov. 20, so that left Young in charge of the club from start to finish.

The Eagles (5-4) missed a ton of opportunities near the basket, shot only 34.4 perfect from the floor and got pounded on the backboards, 47-29.

Kirkwood gave Marshalltown (11-0) a good battle in their first meeting at Marshalltown on Nov. 9, but this game belonged to the Tigers and their international cast of players.

Wagemester will return to the bench this Saturday when Kirkwood plays Southeastern Community College at Burlington.

"It's a lot easier sitting next to him, talking to him," said Young, in his fourth year at Kirkwood. "I'll be happy to give Wags the chalk back and we can get back at it tomorrow and prepare for Southeastern.

"I believe the team was confident in the coaching staff, and I was confident in the team. But we didn't do what we needed to do."

None of Kirkwood's five starters reached double figures and none of them shot well. Kasey Semler, a sophomore from Marion, jammed a finger on his shooting hand in the first half and finished 1-for-9 from the field.

Shaun Manego came off the bench to score 10 points for Kirkwood and was the only Eagle in double figures.

"We had good looks," Young said, "but when you can't convert it trickles down to everything. At this level, you have to finish with the ball when you have those opportunities."

Meanwhile, all of Marshalltown's starters collected at least 10 points and the Tigers shot 48.9 percent from the field.

Kirkwood trailed by only three points at 44-41 with 13:30 left in the game, but Marshalltown used a 20-3 spurt to take command at 64-44.

Marshalltown Coach Brynjar Brynjarsson grew up in Iceland and moved to the United States when he was 16 years old. He has two players from Canada and one from England, along with guys from Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Missouri and one from Iowa.

"It's just one of those things where you know a guy who knows a guy," he said of his recruiting process. "A name comes by you, you check it out, you do your research. Hopefully what you end up getting is a great kid."

Brynjarsson, 37, is in his eighth year at Marshalltown. He said he doesn't have the budget to travel all over the world and all over the country looking for players. He's had players from Brazil, Argentina and Iceland in previous years.

Somehow they find each other, sight unseen.

"There's not one guy on the team who took a visit to Marshalltown," he said. "We just don't have the budget to do that, and the kids can't afford to come in on a visit to pay for it themselves."

Brynjarsson was happy to leave Johnson Hall with a victory, especially after beating Kirkwood by just three points at home.

"It's a tough environment to come in and play," he said. "I really, truly wish that Doug was here. It probably would have changed the game a little bit. But their kids fought and they played hard."

Jamal Gatali, a 6-foot-7 freshman from Toronto, led Marshalltown with 14 points.

MARSHALLTOWN (71): Holloway 4-7 3-4 12, Delinac 3 5-9 12, Caird 2 6-8 11, Gatali 4 4-4 14, Carter 4 2-2 10, Robinson 3 0-2 6, Coleman 1 0-0 2, Clyburn 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-2 0, Edwards 1 0-0 2, Adair 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 20-31 71.

KIRKWOOD (57): Hunter 3 0-1 6, Heffernan 3 3-4 9, Olson 1 2-3 4, Douglas 4 1-2 9, Semler 1 2-2 4, Young 1 0-0 3, Butler 0 0-0 0, Manego 4 0-1 10, Witt 1 1-1 3, Fuller 2 1-3 5, Currie 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 10-17 57.

Halftime - Marshalltown 33, Kirkwood 31. 3-point goals - Marshalltown 5 (Gatali 2, Holloway 1, Delinac 1, Caird 1), Kirkwood 3 (Manego 2, Young 1).