No.20 Eagles claim regional opener
Corvon Seales and Blessin Kimble scored 18 points apiece Tuesday night as the Kirkwood Eagles topped NIACC, 94-74, in the regional quarterfinals at Johnson Hall.
The 20th-ranked Eagles (14-9) will face No. 8 Iowa Lakes (16-7) in the regional semifinals Thursday night in Estherville.
Kirkwood opened an 18-point lead in the first half Tuesday, but NIACC rallied and pulled within six points at 61-55 with 11 minutes left on a 3-pointer by McKelary Robertson.
The Eagles responded with a 14-6 run to take a 75-61 advantage with six minutes left on a basket by Blessin Kimble and never let NIACC get closer than nine points again.
Blake Brinkmeyer snared 15 rebounds for Kirkwood, including nine offensive rebounds, to help the Eagles finish with a commanding 50-24 advantage on the boards. Brinkmeyer finished with 10 points for a double-double. Jaden Keller shot 6-for-6 from the field and scored 14 points.
Robertson poured in 30 points for NIACC (7-16), but did not score in the final seven minutes.
NIACC (74): McKelary Robertson 12 2-2 30, Marshaun Carroll 4 3-3 12, Noah Rigatuso 3 2-2 8, Bradley Andrews 0 1-2 1, Devon'dre Mayfield 0 2-4 2, Cameron Vaughn 1 0-0 2, Jordan Jones 6 0-0 14, Tysen Brennan 2 0-0 5, Payton Breedlove 0 0-0 0, Blake Graham 0 0-0 0. totals 28 10-13 74.
KIRKWOOD (94): Noah King 2 0-2 5, Caleb Delzell 2 0-0 6, Chris Burnell 3 1-1 7, Corvon Seales 5 8-9 18, Jaden Keller 6 2-3 14, Da'Quavion Walker 2 0-0 4, Joich Gong 2 0-0 4, Dante Eldridge 0 0-0 0, Nick Pepin 1 0-0 3, Raejzuan Shockley 0 0-0 0, Jaleque Dunson 1 2-2 5, Blake Brinkmeyer 5 0-1 10, Blessin Kimble 7 4-8 18. Totals 36 17-26 94.
Halftime - Kirkwood 44, NIACC 33. 3-point goals - NIACC 8 (Robertson 4, Jones 2, Carroll 1, Brennan 1), Kirkwood 5 (Delzell 2, King 1, Pepin 1, Dunson 1).
