Saturday's regular season finale matchup between the Ellsworth Community College and Iowa Lakes Community College men will not be the last time the two squads face off.

The Lakers (25-5) swept the regular season series on Saturday, turning a 20-3 offensive run to begin the contest into a 95-59 victory.

Adam Jackson came off the bench to pace ECC (14-16) with 22 points, while the Lakers placed five on the roster in double figures. Justin Brookens and Boston Grimes each poured in 20 points apiece to pace the visitors.

The Panthers and Lakers will play again to kick off this week's Region XI Tournament. The third meeting will take place in Estherville on Tuesday (7 p.m. tip), March 3. ECC will be the six seed while the Lakers are the third seed.

The winner will advance to take on either two seed DMACC or seven seed Iowa Central. The higher seed will host Thursday's (March 5) semifinal.

Earlier in the week, the Panthers used a strong defensive effort to turn back Iowa Central Community College by a 66-47 final in Fort Dodge.

During the first half, the largest lead either team enjoyed was a five-point spread, but ICCC rallied to take a 30-27 lead at the break.

A key 12-3 run by the visiting Panthers pushed them in front by a 41-33 margin in the second half. They added a 13-0 spurt later in the half to pull away for the 19-point victory.

ECCís defense kept Iowa Central to 5-30 (16.7 percent) shooting in the second half and 26 percent for the game.

The Panther offense had three players in double digits CJ Wright (13), Josh Donaldson (11) and Anthony Eddy (10). Kevin Rewoldt finished with 11 rebounds for the visitors.

For more on this game visit the Times Citizen online at http://www.timescitizen.com/sports/early-run-buries-panthers-lakers-roll-to-victory/article_a6dc0f22-5c94-11ea-a644-537e11990713.html