No. 9 Eagles cruise in regional opener
March 3, 2020

No. 9 Eagles cruise in regional opener

Wednesday, 04 March 2020 06:00 Metro Sports Report 
Devonte Thedford scored 24 points Tuesday night as the ninth-ranked Kirkwood Eagles defeated Little Priest Tribal College, 96-57, in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Division II regional tournament at Johnson Hall.
 
Kirkwood (24-5) will host No. 12 NIACC (24-6) in the semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m.


Thedford shot 6-for-8 from the field and was 11-for-12 at the foul line for the Eagles. DJ Purnell collected a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Niko Gosnell added 11 points for the winners.

Kirkwood shot a sizzling 92.3 percent at the foul line, making 36 of 39.

Reynald Laurent scored 20 points for Little Priest Tribal College (6-20).

Fifth-ranked DMACC (27-4) will host 10th-ranked Iowa Lakes (26-5) in the other regional semifinal Thursday. If Kirkwood defeats NIACC, the Eagles will host the regional finals Saturday at 3 p.m.

LITTLE PRIEST (57): Keesten Hanks 1-6 0-0 3, Dijon Brown 4-10 3-4 13,  G'iovonni Clark 1-1 0-0 2, Reynald Laurent 8-15 0-1 20, Dakwaunte  Fields 4-9 0-0 8, Travis Woods 2-9 0-1 4, Osayande Igiehon 0-5 3-4 3,  Vaquarious Brown 2-8 0-2 4, Lance Denney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 6-12  57.

KIRKWOOD (96): Seybian Sims 1-9 2-2 4, Devonte Thedford 6-8 11-12 24,  Luke Appel 4-9 1-2 9, Griff Clark 3-5 0-0 9, DJ Purnell 4-8 6-6 14,  Brady Sartorius 2-3 3-3 7, Gacoby Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Jamal Stephenson  1-5 2-2 4, Jalen Taylor 1-3 2-2 4, Owen Coburn 1-3 6-6 8, Niko Gosnell  4-5 3-4 11. Totals 28-62 36-39 96.

Halftime - Kirkwood 42, Little Priest 27. 3-point goals - Little  Priest 7-20 (Hanks 1-5, Brown 2-4, Laurent 4-8, Woods 0-3), Kirkwood  4-19 (Sims 0-4, Thedford 1-2, Appel 0-2, Clark 3-5, Jones 0-1,  Stephenson 0-3, Taylor 0-2).

Region XI tournament bracket/scores