Men's Basketball: Raiders Top Defending National Champs Kirkwood in Road Thriller

The Central Community College men's basketball team headed to Cedar Rapids Iowa to faceoff against the defending national champs Kirkwood Community College, on Saturday, December 6th. A recap of the match is below:

Through a very physical, back and forth affair CCC stepped toe-to-toe with the Eagles from start to finish. Both teams battled through tough defenses consistently all night as the two teams traded runs for the entirety. Neither team could seem to pull away from the other as Central's largest lead grew to only 5, as Kirkwood's grew to 6 at one point in the second half. For the entire game the score was tied 10 times and the lead changed a total of 8 times.

As the teams hung neck-and-neck throughout the final 10 minutes, after a CCC timeout with 1:32 seconds left as they clung to a 1-point lead, the Raiders were forced into a tough 2 that got tipped, but were able to scrounge up the loose ball and get up a good look from 3FG that came off. Keme Jones flew in to secure another offensive rebound, which led to the ball finding the hands of Freshman, Brandon Jarmon who then cashed in his sixth 3FG of the day to give the Raiders a 4-point lead with just over a minute remaining. The Eagles quickly responded and came down with a clutch answer from their sophomore, Ben Bockman who led the way for Kirkwood with 18 points on the afternoon, this answer cut the Raiders lead to one. Kirkwood had a chance down one with 12 seconds to play with the last possession and ran a set that led to a 1v1 matchup with their hot hand, Bockman, versus Keme Jones.. Jones prevailed, containing and pressuring Bockman into a long-contested jumper that came off the rim as time expired for the Raiders to secure the victory. This is Kirkwood Men's Basketball's only fifth loss at home in the last 5 years.

The men's basketball team moves to 7-5 on the season and are in action next vs Southwestern CC at home on Dec 10th.