Strong second half carries Ellsworth men

Four players scored in double figures in a balanced Ellsworth effort over the Southwestern men here Saturday, 73-63.

Southwestern coach Mike Holmes said his team didn’t perform as well as needed to win the home conference game, after holding a 32-31 halftime lead.

“The game was ours to win,” Holmes said, “but you have to take care of the ball better and not give up so many offensive rebounds. They probably had 20 offensive rebounds, and we had about 20 turnovers. We need both of those numbers to be closer to nine for us to be successful.”

Freshman center Devin Kastrup led the Spartans with 19 points and point guard Delby Halcomb added 13. Kastrup was one of three Spartans who fouled out as Southwestern had 28 fouls and was outscored at the free throw line, 24-12.

It was a big win for the Ellsworth, moving the Panthers to 7-3 in ICCAC Division II play in second place, one-half game in front of 12th-ranked DMACC. No. 2 Kirkwood leads the league at 10-0.

Southwestern is seventh in the eight-team league at 2-9, and 10-17 overall heading into Saturday’s game at Estherville against Iowa Lakes, which stands fifth at 6-6, and 15-11 overall.

ELLSWORTH (73) — Charles Leans 12, Malcolm Canada 17, Abrie Anderson 15, Alfreeman Flowers 13, Mario Donaldson 6, Dwayne Haley 4, Jamell Johnson 3, Derrell Lamb 2. Totals — 20 24-39 73. 3-point goals — 8 (Anderson 3, Canada 2, Donaldson 1, Leans 1, Johnson 1). Team fouls — 21. Fouled out — Leans.

SOUTHWESTERN (63) — Devin Kastrup 19, Delby Halcomb 13, Marcus Littleton 11, Marquealis Edwards 11, Trevor Kayser 4, Keenan Joiner 3, Kyle Graves 2. Totals — 22 12-20 63. 3-point goals — 4 (Littleton 3, Joiner 1). Team fouls — 28. Fouled out — Edwards, Joiner, Kastrup.

Ellsworth — 31 73

SWCC — 32 63