NIACC basketball teams fall to ranked Kirkwood squads

MASON CITY – The No. 15 NIACC women’s basketball team dropped a 65-55 decision to No. 1 Kirkwood Wednesday on Kelcie Hale Night in the NIACC gym.

Kirkwood, which trailed 33-22 at the half, outscored the Trojans 22-8 in the third quarter and 21-14 in the fourth quarter to claim the 10-point ICCAC victory.

Kirkwood (12-0 overall, 5-0 in the ICCAC) was led by Kaliyah Sain with 20 points. Sain was 8 of 13 from the field, including two 3-point goals. The Eagles also received 17 points from Jenna Twedt.

NIACC (12-3, 3-2) was led by sophomore Keeley Steele with 14 points. Sophomore Tori Miller scored 11 points.

Also for the Trojans, sophomore Sonya Potthoff and freshman Reggi Spotts both scored 10 points. Spotts also grabbed six rebounds.

Steele led the Trojans with eight rebounds and also had three steals and two assists.

Sophomore Karly Holm, who scored six points, collected five steals with four rebounds and three assists.

At Wednesday’s contest, NIACC honored former Trojan women’s basketball player Kelcie Hale, who played at NIACC from 2018-20. Hale is recovering from brain surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor.

NIACC returns to action Jan. 4 at DMACC.

====================

MASON CITY – The NIACC men’s basketball team dropped a 86-67 decision to No. 2 Kirkwood Wednesday night in an ICCAC contest in the NIACC gym.

Kirkwood (13-1 overall, 4-1 in the ICCAC) was led by Traijan Sain and Lucas Lueth with 14 points apiece. Keauntrey Barnes scored 12 points for the Eagles.

Kirkwood led 37-34 at the half and outscored the Trojans 49-33 in the second 20 minutes.

NIACC (11-3, 4-1) was led by sophomore Omarion Roberts with 19 points. Roberts also had four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

NIACC sophomore Brayden Drea was also in double figures with 18 points. Drea also had four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Freshman Lance Helming came off the bench to score nine points for the Trojans.

NIACC returns to action Jan. 4 in an ICCAC contest against No. 7 DMACC in Boone. Game time is slated for 3 p.m.