March 28, 2024

Eagles’ 3-point barrage sinks Spartan men

Kirkwood made 14 of 26 3-point shots and outscored Southwestern by 24 points from behind the arc in taking a 92-68 victory on the Spartans’ court Saturday afternoon.

The 12th-ranked Eagles were led by guard Matthew Lassen, who made 7-of-8 shots from behind the arc and 10-15 overall from the field in scoring a game-high 32 points.

Southwestern shot only 28 percent from behind the arc (6-21). The lone Spartan successful from the perimeter was freshman TJ Bower, who was 4-7 on 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 14 points.

Kirkwood improved to 16-4 overall and 3-1 in a first-place tie with DMACC atop the conference, after DMACC lost 92-90 to Iowa Central in double overtime Saturday. Southwestern falls to 15-6 overall and 1-3 in league play.

“Six or seven minutes in it was a 14-10 game,” said SWCC coach Todd Lorensen. “Two or three times we had a defensive rebound in our hands, and they took it away from us. That’s nine points. Then they hit a three in transition after we took a bad shot. We’re not losing to bad teams, but obviously we have to get better.”

Wednesday night is a good opportunity as NIACC (12-9, 3-2) visits Southwestern for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The Spartans travel to Iowa Lakes (10-9, 0-4) Saturday.

“It’s a big week for us,” Lorensen said.

KIRKWOOD (92) — Matthew Lassen 10 5-5 32, Jordan Ashton 5 1-2 16, Hunter Rhodes 5 4-4 14, Jacob Olson 3 1-2 9, Ronald Singleton 3 1-1 7, Joseph Tagarelli 3 0-0 6, Ajay Lawton 3 0-0 6, Chike Ukah 1 0-0 2. Totals — 33 12-14 92. FG shooting — 33-61 (54.1 percent). 3-point goals — 14-26 (Lessen 7, Ashton 5, Olson 2). Rebounds — 43 (Singleton 7, Tagarelli 7). Assists — 22 (Rhodes 5, Ashton 4, Lassen 4). Steals — 7 (Tagarelli 2). Blocked shots — 1 (Ukah 1). Turnovers — 10. Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — None.

SOUTHWESTERN (68) — TJ Bower 4 2-2 14, Jaylon Smith 3 5-7 11, Josk Kirk 4 2-5 10, Mataika Koyamainavure 3 3-4 9, Ahmad Newsome 2 3-5 7, Austin Weber 2 0-0 5, Simon Joseph 0 5-6 5, Josh Tolbert 1 0-0 3, Nikola Drobnjak 1 0-0 2, Tanner Kellogg 1 0-0 2. Totals — 21 20-29 68. FG shooting — 21-45 (46.7 percent). 3-point goals — 6-21 (Bower 4, Tolbert 1, Weber 1). Rebounds — 19 (Koyamainavure 5, Kirk 4, Joseph 4). Assists — 13 (Newsome 4). Steals — 7 (Newsome 3). Blocked shots — 2 (Koyamainavure 1, Williams 1). Turnovers — 13. Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.

Kirkwood — 50 92

SWCC — 28 68