ESTHERVILLE, IOWA -- Playing conference-leading Iowa Lakes for the 2nd time this month, the Ellsworth Panthers fell behind by 6 points at halftime and couldn't get closer than that in a 90-82 loss on the road Wednesday night.  Iowa Lakes, now 8-1 in the ICCAC standings, scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half to open a double-digit lead and held off the Panthers after that, aided by 23-of-25 free throw shooting.

A 3-pointer by Dior Davis allowed ECC to grab a short-lived 28-27 lead in the opening period.  Iowa Lakes regained the lead and went to the locker room up 42-36.  Their 9-0 spurt to begin the 2nd half was too much for the 18th-ranked Panthers to overcome.

Davis topped Ellsworth (15-6, 4-5) with a 20-point performance and he also picked up 8 steals and 4 assists.  Shawn Fulcher added 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.  Bruce Kanno and Rich Ashu also reached double figures with 10 points apiece.  Kanno led the team in rebonds with 6 and Ashu blocked 3 shots.  The Panthers registered a season-low with 9 turnovers.

ECC has its next 2 contests on its home court -- against Iowa Central this Saturday and Iowa Western next Wednesday.