By Marissa VanWingen, The Times Citizen.
The Panthers have found themselves down or in tight games after the first 20 minutes before they have pulled away in the second half – especially the last two games. In another top 25 showdown, No. 9 ECC was able to make plays down the stretch and earned the 81-79 win over 21st-ranked Iowa Western.
The win also makes it the best start for the Panthers in the Bryan Bender era, with ECC at 15-2.
"The biggest thing we've stressed with this team and it's so fun to coach them because they are so emotionally resilient. We never really get too high or too low. There's a lot of just winning basketball going on in our program and we're just kind of unphased," Bender said. "Our team has a lot of maturity to it and we're unphased by negativity and runs and we've talked about it. At the end of the day, they just keep making plays and that's what we did in the second half."
The Panthers did not score their first point until three and a half minutes into the game and Rollings Kamanda scored four in row. Reiver Daleron Thomas drained four three pointers to start the game and the visitors were on top by 10 (14-4) in the blink of an eye. ECC would cut the deficit to one (28-27) on a Willie Patterson III putback and then take the lead on a Patterson fastbreak (29-28). Iowa Western went back in front with a pair of freebies and held the slightest 34-33 lead at the half.
Just under four and a half minutes into the second half, the Panthers took the lead on a Kamanda basket (39-38). The two would trade advantages four more times in a short amount of time. A make by Tanner Berggren made it 43-42 and then a triple by the 6'5" freshman from Bondurant extended the ECC lead for the first time. The hosts then went on a 13-5 run, including a triple by Enki Diarra-Gentes.
With five minutes left to go in the game, Thomas cut the difference to just two (63-61) but Patterson connected on a basket and made his and-one opportunity to keep the Panthers up by five. Once more the hosts built a 10-point advantage, that was cut into as Iowa Western hit three of their nine long balls (one of which was at the buzzer to end the game).
For more photos, visit: https://www.timescitizen.com/gallery/1-8-25-ecc-vs-iowa-western-basketball/collection_df43422a-ce92-11ef-af8f-1b16689cf284.html#1
ICCAC Basketball
Wednesday at Iowa Falls
IWCC: 34| 45 – 79
ECC: 33| 48 – 81
ECC Scoring: Rollings Kamanda 8 3-5 19; Willie Patterson III 6 4-5 17; Taevean Famutimi-Brown 3 7-8 13; Tre Burris 4 2-2 10; Jonovan Wilkinson 0 6-6 6; Tanner Berggren 2 0-0 5; Themba Tshuma 2 0-0 4; Enki Diarra-Gentes 1 0-0 3; Rav Randhawa 1 0-2 2; Eesher Singh Sarai 1 0-1 2.