Walker sparks KCC men past Tritons
Da'Quavion Walker entered Saturday's game at Johnson Hall with a tiny 0.4 scoring average for the Kirkwood Eagles, but don't pay much attention to that misleading number.
Walker is an outstanding player and it showed Saturday.
Walker popped off the bench and popped in 13 points as the 19th-ranked Eagles rallied to trim Iowa Central, 66-61, in an ICCAC contest at Kirkwood.
Walker, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Waterloo, has moved up in the rotation due to injuries and had the right answers at the right time for his ballclub.
Kirkwood trailed, 49-38, with 12 minutes left when Walker went to work. He made a three-point play to pull the Eagles within 49-41, hit another three-point play to make it 49-44, and drained a 3-point shot to get the Eagles within 49-47.
Walker personally accounted for a 9-0 surge that made all the difference in the game and pulled the Eagles out of serious trouble.
Walker was an outstanding player at Waterloo West but had to keep working hard in practice and bide his time until Coach Tim Sandquist called his name.
"It's very tough," Walker said about not playing much earlier this season. "I want to be out there so bad.
"As a freshman coming in, I just have to work and get to that point. And when it's my time, go out there and shine."
Sandquist appreciated the way Walker kept working hard in practice, even when he wasn't playing much.
"He kept coming and he kept coming and kept coming," said Sandquist. "He kept doing what we asked. It's a culmination of that.
"He's bought into his role and I couldn't be happier for the kid. He played fantastic."
Corvon Seales took his cue from Walker and scored nine straight points on three straight 3-pointers for Kirkwood during a decisive stretch in the final minutes.
Seales hit his first 3-pointer to pull Kirkwood within 55-53 and drilled another to give the Eagles a 56-55 edge with 4:42 left. Iowa Central scored, but Seales struck again with another triple for a 59-57 lead.
Noah King made two free throws to give the Eagles a 61-59 advantage. Jaden Keller hit two more foul shots for a 63-59 lead, then Walker hit a hard-driving layup for a 65-59 cushion with a minute remaining to effectively seal the victory.
Iowa Central raced to an early 25-10 lead with a string of 3-pointers, but Kirkwood battled back and pulled within 35-30 at halftime to get back in the game.
Walker led Kirkwood with his 13 points. King, Chris Burnell, Seales and Keller all scored nine points. Burnell had five assists and Keller grabbed nine rebounds.
Blake Brinkmeyer contributed eight points and seven rebounds. Blessin Kimble snared 10 rebounds off the bench.
Kirkwood squared its record at 6-6. Iowa Central fell to 4-7.
Javonte Keck led Iowa Central with 20 points. PJ Ngambi scored 18.
IOWA CENTRAL (61): Ayris Abdelnassar 0 0-0 0, Jordan Majeed 2 0-0 6, Jaxon Smith 0 0-0 0, Irakoze Gilbert 0 0-0 0, Jett Pinneo 0 0-0 0, PJ Ngambi 7 3-3 18, Zavian Ricks 1 0-0 3, Javonte Keck 6 5-8 20, Cham Deng 2 0-0 6, Jayden Stephens 2 0-0 4, Uzo Dibiamaka 1 2-2 4. Totals 21 9-31 61.
KIRKWOOD (66): Noah King 3 3-5 9, Chris Burnell 4 1-2 9, Corvon Seales 3 0-0 9, Jaden Keller 3 3-4 9, Blake Brinkmeyer 4 0-1 8, Caleb Delzell 1 0-0 2, Da'Quavion Walker 5 2-2 13, Joich Gong 0 0-0 0, Jaleque Dunson 1 0-0 3, Blessin Kimble 2 0-2 4. Totals 26 9-16 66.
Halftime - Iowa Central 35, Kirkwood 30. 3-point goals - Iowa Central 9 (Keck 3, Majeed 2, Deng 2, Ngambi 1, Ricks 1), Kirkwood 5 (Seales 3, Walker 1, Dunson 1).
