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DANVILLE — Kirkwood is back on top.
The Eagles claimed their fourth National Title on Saturday night with a 55-54 victory over the Parkland College Cobras in the title game of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament on the Dick Shockey Court at the Mary Miller Center.
“Kirkwood is officially back on the map, nationally, where we belong,’’ said coach Tim Sandquist, who joins Chris Jans and Bryan Petersen as coaches to win a title with the Eagles.
And honestly, it was something this group of players felt they were going to accomplish from the start of the season.
“Not to sound arrogant, but we knew we were going to be the next team,’’ said sophomore Traijan Sain. “We came in with a lot of confidence. We knew we had a good roster put together and at the end of the day, we built a brotherhood and played for each other.’’
But, when it came down to the final seconds with the score tied 54-54, Sandquist turned to Sain, his sophomore leader.
“We put all of our shooters into the game, so if he couldn’t get to the basket, hopefully he could get it to someone for a last-second shot,’’ Sandquist said. “He just made a helluva play like he has done all year.’’
Sain, who came into the tournament as Kirkwood’s leading scorer (12.0), drove down the lane and was fouled by Parkland sophomore JaMonte Williams with 1.5 seconds remaining. The hometown boy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had just 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting but he made the first free throw and missed the second to give the Eagles a 55-54 lead.
“I knew I had to get it done. They entrusted it me to go for the final shot,’’ said Sain, who had 36 points in three previous tournament games for Kirkwood. “I just attacked it. I went with my gut. I didn’t try to make the hero play. I tried to make the right play.’’
But what did he see as he drove to the basket in the final seconds?
“I came off the ball screen, I hit a little spin, and I saw the lane clear up,’’ he said. “I just tried to get through the contact and get to hoop as best as I could.’’
Parkland’s Jaiden Martin corralled the rebound and immediately called timeout. The Cobras then called another timeout after the threw the ball up near halfcourt. On the ensuing inbounds pass Parkland’s Drew Lewis Jr. had his shot blocked by Kirkwood’s Lucas Lueth, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“I was just holding my breath,’’ Sandquist said. “It didn’t seem real. I was checking to make sure that we didn’t foul anyone.’’
The 109 points scored by the two teams in the championship game was the lowest for an NJCAA Division II National Championship game.
“We knew it was going to be a defensive battle,’’ Sandquist said. “Both of us were in the top-five defensively in a lot of categories.
“We just made enough plays down the stretch to pull it off.’’
Depth proved to be a major factor for Kirkwood, as the leading scorer for the Eagles in all four tournament games came off the bench. Germaine Benson had a team-high 12 points on Saturday.
Additionally, Kirkwood’s bench finished the tournament with 129 points while its five starters came up with 161 points.
“Our goal, all year, was to win this title, we didn’t care who led in scoring, rebounding or anything — it was always about the team,’’ Sain said.
Lueth had 10 points and seven rebounds in the championship game, giving him 46 points and 26 rebounds in four tournament games.
Williams and Lewis Jr., two returning sophomore for Parkland, finished with 17 and 14 points respectively. The Cobras took second for the second time in school history.
Continue reading...
The Eagles claimed their fourth National Title on Saturday night with a 55-54 victory over the Parkland College Cobras in the title game of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament on the Dick Shockey Court at the Mary Miller Center.
“Kirkwood is officially back on the map, nationally, where we belong,’’ said coach Tim Sandquist, who joins Chris Jans and Bryan Petersen as coaches to win a title with the Eagles.
And honestly, it was something this group of players felt they were going to accomplish from the start of the season.
“Not to sound arrogant, but we knew we were going to be the next team,’’ said sophomore Traijan Sain. “We came in with a lot of confidence. We knew we had a good roster put together and at the end of the day, we built a brotherhood and played for each other.’’
But, when it came down to the final seconds with the score tied 54-54, Sandquist turned to Sain, his sophomore leader.
“We put all of our shooters into the game, so if he couldn’t get to the basket, hopefully he could get it to someone for a last-second shot,’’ Sandquist said. “He just made a helluva play like he has done all year.’’
Sain, who came into the tournament as Kirkwood’s leading scorer (12.0), drove down the lane and was fouled by Parkland sophomore JaMonte Williams with 1.5 seconds remaining. The hometown boy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had just 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting but he made the first free throw and missed the second to give the Eagles a 55-54 lead.
“I knew I had to get it done. They entrusted it me to go for the final shot,’’ said Sain, who had 36 points in three previous tournament games for Kirkwood. “I just attacked it. I went with my gut. I didn’t try to make the hero play. I tried to make the right play.’’
But what did he see as he drove to the basket in the final seconds?
“I came off the ball screen, I hit a little spin, and I saw the lane clear up,’’ he said. “I just tried to get through the contact and get to hoop as best as I could.’’
Parkland’s Jaiden Martin corralled the rebound and immediately called timeout. The Cobras then called another timeout after the threw the ball up near halfcourt. On the ensuing inbounds pass Parkland’s Drew Lewis Jr. had his shot blocked by Kirkwood’s Lucas Lueth, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“I was just holding my breath,’’ Sandquist said. “It didn’t seem real. I was checking to make sure that we didn’t foul anyone.’’
The 109 points scored by the two teams in the championship game was the lowest for an NJCAA Division II National Championship game.
“We knew it was going to be a defensive battle,’’ Sandquist said. “Both of us were in the top-five defensively in a lot of categories.
“We just made enough plays down the stretch to pull it off.’’
Depth proved to be a major factor for Kirkwood, as the leading scorer for the Eagles in all four tournament games came off the bench. Germaine Benson had a team-high 12 points on Saturday.
Additionally, Kirkwood’s bench finished the tournament with 129 points while its five starters came up with 161 points.
“Our goal, all year, was to win this title, we didn’t care who led in scoring, rebounding or anything — it was always about the team,’’ Sain said.
Lueth had 10 points and seven rebounds in the championship game, giving him 46 points and 26 rebounds in four tournament games.
Williams and Lewis Jr., two returning sophomore for Parkland, finished with 17 and 14 points respectively. The Cobras took second for the second time in school history.
Continue reading...
