By Marissa VanWingen
mvanwingen@iafalls.com

Basketball fans showed up and brought the energy in a big way to witness the 93-64 Ellsworth Community College victory over Sauk Valley.

The Panthers (3-0) briefly trailed in the opening half, but a three-ball from Tanner Berggren four and a half minutes into the game put the hosts on top 10-9. That jumpstarted a 10-0 run by ECC who pulled away to a 20-9 advantage. The Skyhawks (1-1) would cut into the deficit and get within three (31-27) with 3:15 left to go before the break. The Panthers would close the half going on a 12-2 run and lead 45-31 at the half.

The advantage would continuing to swell throughout the second half, and with a basket by Dan Pembele reach 20 (60-40). Christian Johnson hit a pair from downtown as ECC finished the contest with eight makes from beyond the arc. They shot 49 percent from the floor.

The entire contest was physical as ECC was 17 of 23 from the line and Sauk Valley drained 12 of 19. There were a total of 39 fouls called throughout the 40 minutes.

The Panthers did a really good job of handling the ball, turning the ball over 10 times and the defense caused 14 Skyhawk turnovers.

Seventeen different players got in and 12 scored. Leading the way was Alex Charlotin with 19 followed by Will Taylor with 16. Berggren (11) and Jayden Pretty (10) were also in double figures.

For more photos, 11-4-25 ECC vs. Sauk Valley basketball | Gallery | timescitizen.com

NJCAA Basketball
Tuesday at Iowa Falls

SVCC: 31| 33 – 64
ECC: 45| 48 – 93

ECC Scoring: Alex Charlotin 7 4-7 19; Will Taylor 7 2-2 16; Tanner Berggren 3 2-2 11; Jayden Pretty 4 2-2 10; Christian Johnson 3 0-0 8; Chase Low 2 2-4 6; Rav Randhawa 1 2-2 5; Jacob Khounsourath 2 0-0 5; Jonovan Wilkinson 2 0-0 4; Eesher Singh Sarai 0 2-2 2; Dan Pembele 1 0-0 2; Ryland Ubben 0 1-2 1.