CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA -- Kirkwood CC overcame a halftime deficit, held off visiting Ellsworth down the stretch and secured an ICCAC victory in a duel between two nationally-ranked teams on Wednesday night in Johnson Hall.  The No. 14 Panthers were ahead 36-31 at intermission and trailed by only 2 points in the final minute before the 11th-rated Eagles nailed down the 77-73 win at the foul line.  The free throw stripe is where the game was largely decided, Kirkwood holding a plus-17 advantage in free throws.  They made 25-of-35 attempts to the Panthers' 8-of-20.

ECC gave up 46 second-half points after taking the 5-point lead at the half.  Kirkwood's largest lead was 9 points and the difference was 2 after ECC's Diondre Taylor nailed a 3-pointer with under a minute to go.  The Panthers, however, couldn't get any closer as their conference record fell to 3-3 and overall mark to 13-4.

Shawn Fulcher led 4 Ellsworth players in double figures with 19 points.  Rich Ashu scored 12 and pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds while blocking 4 shots.  Both Dior Davis and Jordan Glenn-Hawkins tallied 10 points.  Justin Recker was a key off the bench for KCC with a game-high 25 points.

The Panthers will host Northeast (Neb.) Saturday afternoon at Dittmer Gym.