Ellsworth rallies again over SWCC men
IOWA FALLS — A substitute coach couldn’t change the fortunes for the Southwestern men against Ellsworth Community College Tuesday night.
With head coach Jerry Drymon and assistant Matt Dunn stricken with influenza, former coach Bill Taylor, SWCC’s director of student services, directed the team in its final regular season game.
The Spartans led 43-33 at halftime, but Ellsworth rallied for a 70-67 victory.
“It was similar to the Ellsworth game at home when we got up 24 and lost at the end,” Taylor said. “We went inside and got great shots in the first half. We shot 74 percent in the first half, and 26 percent in the second half.”
A downfall for the Spartans was shooting only 10-of-21 at the free throw line.
Ellsworth’s win coupled with Iowa Lakes’ loss to DMACC bumped Ellsworth to the No. 3 position in the conference at 10-4, and 18-10 overall. Iowa Lakes fell to fourth place at 9-5.
Iowa Lakes will meet Southwestern (6-8 conference, 17-12 overall) in the first round of the regional tournament Saturday as Southwestern finished in fifth place. Iowa Lakes hosts regional play at Estherville.
The league standings show Kirkwood 12-2, DMACC 11-3, Ellsworth 10-4, Iowa Lakes 9-5, Southwestern 6-8, Iowa Central 5-9, NIACC 3-11 and Clinton 0-14.
Southwestern had balanced scoring as Anthony Davis and Laurice Ellison each scored 13 points, Royce Phillips and Tyler Raasch each netted 12 and Kristian Williams scored 11 points.
“Phillips had 11 in the first half, Ellison had eight and Davis six as we were putting on a clinic inside,” Taylor said. “In the second half we couldn’t get anything going and we only scored 24 points. We missed a lot of free throws.”
Ellsworth hit three consecutive 3-pointers during a second-half stretch to cut Southwestern’s lead from 15 points to six.
Tony Lewis, 6-7 225-pound center, led Ellsworth with 24 points including 19 in the first half.
ELLSWORTH (70) — Tony Lewis 9 6-7 24, Mike Candelaria 7 0-3 17, Jordan Eberline 4 2-2 11, Nathan Kennedy 3 2-2 8, Nick Wagner 2 0-0 6, Tom Boyle 1 0-0 2, Damon Smith 0 2-4 2, Dobong Pouk 1 0-0 2. Totals — 27 12-18 70. FG shooting — 26-60 (43 percent). 3-point goals — 6-18 (Candelaria 3, Wagner 2, Eberline 1). Rebounds — 34. Assists — 7. Steals — 6. Blocked shots — 3. Turnovers — 14. Team fouls — 18.
SOUTHWESTERN (67) — Anthony Davis 6 1-4 13, Laurice Ellison 5 3-4 13, Royce Phillips 6 0-2 12, Tyler Raasch 5 0-0 12, Kristian Williams 3 4-8 11, Ryckey Harper 2 0-0 4, Terrance Morgan 0 2-3 2. Totals — 27 10-21 67. FG shooting — 27-54 (50 percent). 3-point goals — 3-14 (Raasch 2, Williams). Rebounds — 36 (Ellison 9, 5, Williams 4). Assists — 11 (Raasch 4, Williams 3, Harper 2). Steals — 8 (Williams 4, Raasch 2). Blocked shots — 1 (Ellison 1). Turnovers — 13. Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — Davis.
Ellsworth — 33 70
SWCC — 43 67
