COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA -- Ellsworth let a 4-point halftime lead slip away and the Panthers dropped a 77-70 decision to Iowa Western in the ICCAC opener for both teams on Saturday.

The Panthers were up 34-30 at intermission, but the Reivers put up 47 second-half points to post the victory.  After beginning the season with 10 consecutive wins, it was the second close road loss of the week for the Panthers, who fell at Kansas City Kansas on Tuesday.  

It was a rare cold-shooting game for ECC against Iowa Western as they made a season-low 34 percent of their shots, hit only 2-of-15 3-pointers and missed 8 free throws.  Head coach Bryan Bender said his squad also missed about 15 layups.  And a team that has prided itself on having a deep bench through the first 11 games of the season was short in that area against IWCC.  "It was probably one of our hardest road tests all year," explained Bender, " and we found ourselves short in terms of depth.  (Starter) Bruce Kanno going out early with a rolled ankle hurt and missing Diondre Taylor for the second game in a row with a bruised foot was also a factor."

Shawn Fulcher led ECC with 16 points and Dior Davis added 13, but they combined to go just 11-36 from the field.  Arlandus Keyes also reached double digits with 12 points.  Fulcher dished out 5 assists and Davis led ECC on the glass with 11 boards.

"We haven't played close games where we were forced to execute at all and made a lost of costly mistakes that young teams make that we haven't been able to simulate yet despite being 12 games into our season," Bender stated.  "It's frustrating to not win a game when you're up double digits, but it's part of our continuous growth when all but two of our guys are freshmen."

The Ellsworth coach is eager to get his team back on the court for its first ICCAC home game this Wednesday against NIACC.  "We have three more winnable games before break that we will need to play better in than we have the past two games to go into break with a winning conference record.  We are excited to come back home and play in front of our supportive community and fan base and will be ready to go on Wednesday."