By Marissa VanWingen
Playing some of its best basketball down the stretch, Ellsworth Community College hosted Iowa Western Community College in their regular season home finale on Saturday. The first time the two played, the Reivers won by four. This time around, the Panthers got revenge on the seventh-place team and flipped the result to a 58-48 ECC victory.
The Panthers (14-13, 10-11) led the entire first quarter, but not by much. The largest difference was five (11-6) on an Asia Beale layup. The two were even once at 11-11 before the hosts scored the final two buckets of the period to lead 15-11.
Both teams struggled in the second stanza and shot just 16 percent from the floor. A jumper by Yaiza Soriano Balaguer extended the lead to 18-11. Later, the Reivers cut the deficit to three and that's what it would be (20-17) at the half.
Coming out of the break is when the Panthers did most of their damage and pulled away from the visitors. Iowa Western (14-13, 11-10) were within two, 22-20, with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter forcing an ECC timeout. Over the next three minutes, the Panthers went on an 8-2 run capped by a Beale layup. The lead reached double figures for the first time on a pair of Balaguer free throws (36-25). Balaguer drained a triple to extend the advantage to 18 points. That difference remained and the score was 50-32 heading into the final quarter.
Rebekka Holm's make with 7:40 left in the game pushed the difference to 20 (52-32). Even though the Reivers were able to chip away at the deficit and outscore the hosts 16-6 the rest of the way, the mountain was too high for them to climb out of.
Offensively, neither team had a stellar performance. ECC shot at a 35.7 percent clip and were just four of 25 from downtown. They did go 14 of 19 from the free throw line. Iowa Western was 27 percent from the floor and just eight of 16 from the line. Two were in double figures, with Balaguer finishing with 19 points and Beale 16.
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ICCAC Basketball
Saturday at Iowa Falls
IWCC: 11| 6| 15| 16 – 48
ECC: 15| 5| 30| 8 – 58
ECC Scoring: Yaiza Soriano Balaguer 6 6-11 19; Asia Beale 6 4-4 16; Claudia Sanz Dorange 2 4-4 8; Sofia Berraquero Beltran 3 0-0 7; Inma Martinez 1 0-0 3; Addy Dennis 1 0-0 3; Rebekka Holm 1 0-0 2.