BOONE, IOWA -- The Ellsworth men's basketball team opened the second half of the season earlier this month with a victory against DMACC, but the Panthers couldn't duplicate that result Saturday as the Bears took a 21-point lead at the half and rolled over ECC, 86-67.  DMACC, the defending NJCAA DII national champion, hasn't lost since the Jan. 5 defeat in Iowa Falls.

Ellsworth placed three players in double figures, led by Andres Arellano with 13 points.  Arellano, making his first start of the season, also pulled down 6 rebounds.  Rich Ashu provided 12 points and 9 rebounds and Junior Bodden added 10 points and 6 boards.   Denneson Lucas came off the ECC bench and scored a season-high 9 points.  Jadan Graves had a game-high 28 points to pace the Bears, knocking down 7 threes.

The Panthers (13-9, 4-5) play on the road twice in the coming week:  at Iowa Lakes on Wednesday and at North Central Missouri Saturday.