No. 5 Kirkwood men's basketball gets tough with No. 17 DMACC
5 different Eagles score in double figures in 92-76 win
NJCAA Men's Basketball: Kirkwood vs. DMACC—Jan. 9, 2019
CEDAR RAPIDS — Throughout the first half of the men's basketball season, Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen has implored his team to be tougher.Wednesday night against No. 17 DMACC, the fifth-ranked Eagles digested the message and went to work.
Sophomore forward Doug Wilson scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as Kirkwood used a 57-point second half to run past DMACC, 92-76, in an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference game Wednesday night at Johnson Hall.
"We stayed with the game plan," Petersen said. "We kind of told our guys how we wanted to guard a certain way, and I felt our guys did a much better job in the second half and for 20 minutes. Made a few more toughness plays, I think, than they did. We had some guys step up and make some plays on the offensive end, whether it be around the rim or a wide-open shot. Guys knocked them in."
Five different players reached double figures in scoring for Kirkwood (13-2, 3-0 ICCAC), which made nearly 77 percent of its shot attempts in the second half.
"When everyone is scoring, that is when we are at our best," Kirkwood freshman Luke Appel said. "We have so many guys that can score the ball. Any night anyone can go for 20. Everyone in the 15, 16 range is perfect."
Like Wilson, Appel also posted a double-double as he scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Marshalltown graduate was named the ICCAC Athlete of the Week on Tuesday following a similar 14-point, 13-rebound performance in a Saturday rout of Illinois Valley.
"He just brings us another forward that can do some different things," Petersen said. "He is versatile. He obviously can play inside, but he can also step out on the perimeter and do some things as well, too, with his passing and shooting. This gives us another weapon to use out there on the offensive end."
Truman State transfer Connor Kasperbauer scored 13 points, while Chicago native Allante Pickens added 12 with five assists. Former Mount Pleasant prep Brady Sartorius scored a season-high 17 points off the bench in his second game back after missing time with an ankle and Achilles injury.
"It took a lot of toughness, a lot of effort from everybody," said Wilson, a second-team All-American in NJCAA Division II last season. "Everybody played a good part in that win, from the players to the bench."
East Moline (Ill.) native Tray Buchanan scored 23 points for DMACC (11-4, 1-1).
AT JOHNSON HALL
No. 5 Kirkwood 92, No. 17 DMACC 76
DMACC (76): DeShawn Davidson 5-17 4-5 15, Tray Buchanan 8-15 2-3 23, Devonta Price 0-0 0-0 0, Dyllan Robinson 7-12 1-3 15, Zaire Swaby 3-5 0-2 7, Vinny Tarello 2-6 2-2 8, Ray Miller 2-4 2-2 7, Quinton Taylor 0-4 1-2 1, Zach Lester 0-2 0-0 0, Theron Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 27-65 12-19 76.
KIRKWOOD (92): Seybian Sims 4-8 0-0 8, Allante Pickens 5-9 0-0 12, Connor Kasperbauer 4-8 3-4 13, Doug Wilson 8-11 7-10 23, Luke Appel 6-9 0-1 14, Devonte Thedford 1-2 0-0 2, Brady Sartorius 5-10 3-4 17, Jamal Stephenson 1-2 1-1 3, Niko Gosnell 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 34-61 14-20 92.
Halftime — Kirkwood, 35-34. Three-point goals — DMACC 10-23 (Buchanan 5-9, Tarello 2-4, Miller 1-1, Swaby 1-1, Davidson 1-6, Lester 0-1, Robinson 0-1); Kirkwood 10-21 (Sartorius 4-5, Appel 2-3, Kasperbauer 2-5, Pickens 2-5, Gosnell 0-1, Sims 0-1, Stephenson 0-1). Rebounds — DMACC 29 (Robinson 6, Swaby 6); Kirkwood 39 (Wilson 12). Assists — DMACC 9 (Davidson 3), Kirkwood 22 (Pickens 5, Wilson 5). Turnovers — DMACC 13, Kirkwood 13. Total fouls — DMACC 19, Kirkwood 18. Fouled out — None.
l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com
