By Marissa VanWingen, The Times Citizen
A three-win St. Cloud Technical and Community College gave the seventh-ranked Ellsworth Community College all they could handle on Saturday.
It took three overtimes before the Panthers were able to secure a 104-96 win over the Cyclones.
After the first 20 minutes of play, ECC (7-1) was on top by five, 34-29. The hosts then went on a run and knotted the score at 71 at the end of regulation.
Following the first extra period, the two were even at 80 and then knotted once again at 89-89 heading into the third overtime. The Panthers outscored SCTCC (3-3) 15-7 to escape with the win.
ECC shot 47 percent from the floor and drained six three-pointers in the win. The Cyclones were able to stay in the contest at the line. They were 85.7 percent from the charity stripe, making 24 of 28. The Panthers had way more attempts (37) but only made 16 from the line.
ECC also had the benefit of being able to rotate in six different players to SCTCC's three. The Panther bench scored 33 points to help lift the seventh-ranked team in the nation.
ECC was also able to win the rebounding battle, nabbing 66 to the Cyclones 51. Defensively, the visitors recorded 10 steals and five blocks.
Four players were in double figures for the Panthers, led by Tre Burris. The freshman from Milwaukee was 10 of 13 from the floor and eight of 11 from the line to have a game-high 28 points. He had a double-double with 10 rebounds and added six assists and three steals. Rav Randhawa tallied 24 points. Rollings Kamanda (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Tanner Berggren (10 points) were also in double figures.
For more on ECC Athletics, visit https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.timescitizen.com%2fsports%2fecc%2f&c=E,1,zqZWd75dZj06vYjVc6jiYFJNR6bXEYADffhkxQ6hspUgaTI8jYadGxgq00QEGTN4TWzCvRhz7zt4R2kjn1OWUvmJJ6uHwh3e32_d93FkM_BVomqrX-s,&typo=1
NJCAA Basketball
Saturday at St. Cloud, Minn.
ECC: 34| 27| 9| 9| 15 – 104
SCTCC: 29| 42| 9| 9| 7 – 96
ECC Scoring: Tre Burris 10 8-11 28; Rav Randhawa 9 4-5 24; Rollings Kamanda 7 1-8 15; Tanner Berggren 4 2-5 10; Eesher Singh Sarai 3 1-3 7; Bene Martinkus 2 0-0 5; Jonovan Wilkinson 2 0-0 5; Jack Scrivner 2 0-0 4; Hubert Bayigamba 1 0-6 2; Enki Diarra-Gentes 1 0-0 2; Taevean Famutini-Brown 0 2-4 2.