By Marissa VanWingen, The Times Citizen
Bryan Bender was not going to call Saturday's game against Iowa Central a must win for the 12th-ranked Ellsworth Community College, but it was pretty close.
The Panthers did just enough to avoid their fourth loss in as many tries and falling to an unranked rival on their home floor – 78-75.
When you're one of the top teams in the country, you're going to get everyone's best each and every night and Saturday was no different.
The Tritons (11-9, 5-6) held an advantage nearly the entire first half. There were three ties with ECC coming out on top twice. The last Panther (16-5, 6-4) lead was at 16-14 on a Themba Tshuma bucket. Iowa Central then went on an 8-0 run including four ECC turnovers. One of Rav Randhawa's four triples ended the scoring drought. The Tritons went up by as many as 10 (32-22), but it was short lived as the Randhawa drained another three ball to end the first quarter with the hosts down 39-34.
ECC opened the second half and knotted the score for just the fourth time – 41-41 – on a triple by Willie Patterson III. The hosts would hit nine from beyond the arc while Iowa Central was just two of 14 from downtown. A Jonovan Wilkinson bucket gave the hosts the lead, but it was short lived as the Tritons went on another run to lead 47-43.
The Panthers did not go back on top until there were less than five minutes. A steal and Rollings Kamanda knotted the game at 65-all. Wilkinson then got the basket and free throw for the three point play and the largest lead of the contest for ECC. In the final 30 seconds, the Panthers went 6-6 from the free throw line – all by Randhawa to ice the game. That made up for the earlier free throw misses, who were 15 of 26 from the line for the game.
Randhawa led all scoring with 25 points and Wilkinson was also in double digits with 18.
The win was big moving forward in the Region XI race.
"We just needed a win. That was the first time we've lost three in a row since I've been here and we are in a unique stretch where we're right in the middle of the pack right now and we've got to stay in that upper third to get at least one home game as you look ahead. We've also got to stay in that at-large consideration," said Bender. "We can't afford any okay or bad losses. We've got to beat the middle of the pack and we've got to beat the bottom. You can survive a loss or two, but that's not how we're thinking. We're thinking one game at a time."
For more photos, visit: https://www.timescitizen.com/gallery/1-25-25-ecc-vs-iowa-central-basketball/collection_cb8a777a-dc21-11ef-9231-f79b6369a919.html#1
ICCAC Basketball
Saturday at Iowa Falls
IC: 39| 36 – 75
ECC: 34| 44 – 78
ECC Scoring: Rav Randhawa 6 9-11 25; Jonovan Wilkinson 7 1-1 18; Willie Patterson III 2 3-4 8; Taevean Famutimi-Brown 3 1-2 7; Rollings Kamanda 3 0-2 6; Enki Diarra-Gentes 2 1-2 6; Themba Tshuma 2 0-3 6; Tre Burris 1 0-1 2.