IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- The Ellsworth men's basketball team notched a big homecourt victory on Saturday afternoon, ending a 9-game losing streak against Kirkwood CC in an 86-77 decision at Dittmer Gym.  The win moved the Panthers to within a half game of 2nd place in the ICCAC standings and was their first victory against Kirkwood since a Feb. 2018 win in Cedar Rapids.  ECC had also lost its previous 8 home games against the Eagles, but got a superb effort from freshman guard Shawn Fulcher to defeat a team rated 5th in the latest NJCAA DII poll.

Fulcher pumped in 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting and nailed 3 of ECC's 5 3-pointers.  He also dished out 6 assists in 21 minutes of action.  Dior Davis supported Fulcher with 21 points, hitting 6-of-9 shots and all 9 of his free throw attempts.  When Kirkwood beat Ellsworth, 77-73, last month at KCC, the Panthers were just 8-of-21 from the foul line; Saturday they were 15-of-21.  Jordan Glenn-Hawkins scored 15 points and the trio of Fulcher, Davis and Glenn-Hawkins combined to go 23-of-34 from the floor.

Ellsworth connected on 51.6 percent of its field goal tries (33-64) and won the rebound battle, 49-35.  Issakha Niang and Arlandus Keyes each grabbed 8 rebounds and Bruce Kanno 7 to aid in ECC's advantage on the glass.  Ashu and Niang both blocked 3 shots.  The Panthers outscored Kirkwood 48-10 in bench points helped by 42 from Fulcher and Glenn-Hawkins.

It was just the 2nd win for Ellsworth against Kirkwood in the past 19 meetings between the 2 rivals and was the 4th straight victory for ECC following a pair of tough losses to DMACC and Iowa Lakes.  Iowa Lakes leads the ICCAC standings with a 10-2 record, Kirkwood and DMACC are tied at 8-4 and the Panthers moved to 8-5 after the win.  ECC is 19-6 overall.

Ellsworth will play at Dakota County Tech on Wednesday night before taking on DMACC at home on Saturday afternoon.