By Marissa VanWingen
mvanwingen@iafalls.com
In their first game with the number one ranking, Ellsworth Community College hosted one of the bottom teams in the league – Southwestern Community College.
Not taking any team lightly was going to be key for the Panthers as they knocked out the Spartans 98-81 to improve to 11-0 on the season.
Nine minutes into the game, ECC (11-0, 3-0) led by double digits for the first time. A basket from Jayden Pretty made it 22-12 and that's the spread that the hosts would hold onto before the break.
The Panthers went on a 13-2 run to start the second half, including a pair of dunks by Eesher Singh Sarai. The scoring spree allowed ECC to distance themselves even more from the visitors, extending the advantage to 54-34.
SWCC would cut the difference to 11 (58-47) but would not get closer than that.
The Panthers nabbed 42 rebounds and held the Spartans (2-6, 0-2) to just six offensive boards.
Five players reached double figures for ECC and 10 reached the scoring column. Tanner Berggren led with 14 points. Jacob Khounsourath made three of the team's eight triples to finish with 13 points and Singh Sarai added 13 as well. Chase Low had a team high eight rebounds and added 11 points while Alex Charlotin finished with 10.
The Panthers will continue their home stand with 19th ranked Madison College on Saturday.
Three teams in the ICCAC are all undefeated. Along with ECC, Iowa Central (10-0) and Iowa Western (10-0) have not suffered a loss.
https://www.timescitizen.com/gallery/
ICCAC Basketball
Wednesday at Iowa Falls
SWCC: 32| 49 – 81
ECC: 41| 57 – 98
ECC Scoring: Tanner Berggren 4 4-4 14; Eesher Singh Sarai 5 3-5 13; Jacob Khounsourath 4 2-2 13; Chase Low 5 0-1 11; Alex Charlotin 4 1-2 10; Jonovan Wilkinson 2 5-5 9; Christian Johnson 1 6-9 9; Jayden Pretty 2 3-4 7; Rav Randhawa 2 2-2 6; Will Taylor 2 0-1 6.
