No. 12 Eagles roll by Southwestern
DJ Purnell
The Southwestern men's basketball team arrived at Johnson Hall Monday with only eight players in uniform and nobody taller than 6-foot-5.
It was a mismatch from the opening tip.
The 12th-ranked Kirkwood Eagles opened a 53-point lead in the second half and cruised to a 100-60 victory in an ICCAC conference game.
Kirkwood raised its records to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in the league. Southwestern fell to 7-14 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
DJ Purnell scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Eagles. Luke Appel collected a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Jamal Stephenson, enjoying his first start this season, also scored 15 points. Griffen Clark canned four 3-pointers and added 14 points.
Kirkwood punished Southwestern on the backboards, 48-15. James Kelley scored 19 points for the visitors.
SOUTHWESTERN (60): C.Johnson 3-8 0-0 6, Do.Johnson 4-13 0-0 10, Zehnder 3-10 0-0 9, Kelley 7-10 4-6 19, Woods 3-13 0-0 7, Hawthorne 3-5 1-2 7, Richardson 1-3 0-0 2, De.Johnson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-66 5-8 60.
KIRKWOOD (100): Sims 3-5 2-2 9, Appel 6-7 4-4 15, Jones 2-3 0-0 4, Stephenson 5-9 4-5 15, Purnell 9-14 1-1 19, Burnell 3-7 1-1 7, Thedford 2-3 3-4 7, Clark 4-8 2-2 14, Taylor 1-5 0-0 2, Coburn 1-3 0-0 2, Gosnell 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 39-67 16-18 100.
Halftime - Kirkwood 56, Southwestern 27. 3-point goals - Southwestern 7-24 (Zehnder 3-10, Do.Johnson 2-8, Kelley 1-2, Woods 1-3, Richardson 0-1), Kirkwood 6-22 (Clark 4-7, Sims 1-2, Stephenson 1-5, Jones 0-1, Purnell 0-2, Burnell 0-2, Taylor 0-3).
