MASON CITY, IOWA -- Last season Ellsworth pulled off a big upset against DMACC in the opening round of the Region XI postseason tourney, beating the top-seeded Bears, 66-64.  The Panthers, however, were not able to rekindle that magic this year as the No. 2 seeded Bears knocked off ECC, 59-51, on Saturday at NIACC to advance to the semifinals of the region tournament.  DMACC recovered from the loss to Ellsworth a year ago to capture the NJCAA DII national championship.  They'll play Kirkwood on the road this week for a chance to return and defend their national title.

Ellsworth had split two regular season contests with DMACC in 2021-22, but couldn't take the rubber game in a matchup in which neither team shot very well.  The Panthers made only 31 percent of their field goal attempts and the Bears 35 percent.  While ECC connected on 6-of-26 shots from behind the arc, DMACC hit 2-of-17.  A wide margin at the free throw line helped to down the Panthers, who were 7-of-12 to 17-of-22 for the Bears, the 10-shot advantage more than accounting for the final 8-point margin of victory.

The halftime lead was 30-19 for DMACC and although they outscored the Bears 32-29 in the second half ECC was unable to complete a comeback.  The Panthers lost the rebound battle, 54-39, but committed only 10 turnovers.

Jake Watson led the Ellsworth scoring with 13 points and Ra'mir Scott added 12.  Scott made 3 of ECC's 6 3s.  Junior Bodden topped Ellsworth on the glass with 8 boards and Rich Ashu grabbed 6 rebounds to along with 3 assists and 2 blocks before fouling out.

The loss brought an end to ECC head coach Troy Muilenburg's tenure at Ellsworth, the final game in his 23-year career.  ECC finished Muilenburg's final season with a 15-16 record.