Down But Not Out, Warriors Rally to Win

Cedar Rapids, IA -- Kirkwood CC led for 39:52 of Tuesday's game against Indian Hills at Johnson Hall. But IHCC led when it mattered most, when the final buzzer went off, and the visiting Warriors had escaped with a 59-57 win.

After IHCC's Trey Starks made two free throws with 17.9 seconds to play, Indian Hills, which trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, had cut the Kirkwood lead to 57-56. Indian Hills then forced a Kirkwood turnover, Dijon Farr coming up with a loose ball at midcourt and feeding a wide-open Chad Dillard for the layup that proved to be the game-winner.

Kirkwood got the ball into their frontcourt, but lost the ball out of bounds at the baseline with 2.9 seconds remaining. Indian Hills inbounded the ball to Gary Ricks, Jr. who was fouled immediately. He made one of two free throws and a desperation shot by Kirkwood came up short and the Warriors could celebrate a come-from-behind win, their seventh in a row to start the season.

Playing on the road for the first time this season, the Warriors were overwhelmed at the start of the game. Kirkwood ran away to a 12-0 lead. By the time Jerome Jones scored the first IHCC points, the game was five minutes old.

Jones made two straight 3's later in the half to bring the Warriors to within five, but Kirkwood doubled that lead by halftime.

When Michael Weber nailed a 3-pointer eight minutes into the second half, the Eagles had their largest lead at 47-34. Farr started the IHCC rally with seven consecutive points on a three-point play, a pair of free throws and a layup.

The Warriors kept chipping away at the lead with a three-point play by Dillard and two Trey Startks' baskets around a layup by KCC's Louis Cox.

Ricks hit a three with under two minutes to play to bring the Warriors to within five at 57-52. Starks scored on a layup to make it a three-point game. When Kirkwood missed their third straight front end of a one-and-one, the Warriors rebounded and Starks was fouled with 17.9 seconds to play.

The freshman guard made both foul shots, setting the stage for the steal and Dillard's go-ahead bucket.

Indian Hills didn't attempt a free throw for the first 25 minutes of the game, yet outscored the Eagles from the line, 11-3.

Jones, Farr and Dillard all scored 11 points to lead IHCC. Jordan Gentry had 14 of his game-high 16 points in the first half for KCC. Brennan Cougill added 15.

Indian Hills will take their unbeaten record and new No. 11 national ranking to Park Hills, Missouri this weekend for a pair of games in a tournament hosted by Mineral Area College.

The Warriors will battle Three Rivers CC on Friday at 5:00 and the host Cardinals at 7:00 on Saturday.

INDIAN HILLS 59, KIRKWOOD 57

INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 4 1-2 9, Jerome Jones 4 0-0 11, Derrick Hill 0 0-0 0, Dijon Farr 4 3-4 11, Kelvyn Valdez 0 0-0 0, Trey Starks 3 3-4 11, Bruno Ferreira 0 0-0 0, Chad Dillard 4 3-3 11, Gary Ricks, Jr. 3 1-2 8, Giovanni Smith 0 0-0 0, D.J. Bennett 0 0-0 0 Team 22 11-15 59

KIRKWOOD Richie Thompson 2 0-0 4, Preston Brunz 0 0-0 0, Michael Weber 2 0-1 5, Jordan Gentry 7 0-0 16, Louis Cox 1 0-1 2, D'Monte Hopkins 3 1-3 7, Alex Coleman 3 2-3 8, Brennan Cougill 7 0-1 15, Bryan Brown 0 0-0 0, Troy Peter 0 0-0 0 Team 25 3-9 57

Halftime score: Kirkwood 33, Indian Hills 23; Three-point field goals: IHCC 4 (Jones 3, Ricks 1), KCC 4 (Gentry 2, Weber 1, Cougill 1)