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Not enough

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Tray Croft of Iowa Central goes up for a rebound against DMACC's Antowine Locke on Wednesday

It was a frustrating start to the conference slate for the Iowa Central men’s basketball team.

After rallying in the second half to take a brief lead, the Tritons stumbled down the stretch and DMACC posted a 72-66 victory at Hodges Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

DMACC, now 2-0 in the ICCAC, held Iowa Central to just 19 points in the first half and then hit enough free throws down the stretch to move to 12-7 overall.

Iowa Central (8-11, 0-1) rallied from that first-half deficit to take a 45-44 lead with 9:20 left in the game, but that was the Tritons’ only lead of the second half. Iowa Central’s last lead in the first half was 6-4 with 17:32 to play.

“We got down early. We just couldn’t do much against their zone,” said Iowa Central Coach Dennis Pilcher. “I’ve been saying it all year, our margin of error is so thin. That first half was just lack of execution offensively. We knew they would play zone against us, but we just didn’t do a good job against it.”

Iowa Central made just 7 of 26 shots from the floor in the first half. They were 18-for-35 in the second half.

“”We just had a lack of good movement,” added Pilcher. “You have to play basketball with some imagination and anticipation. You have to know your teammate is cutting before he does. It’s like a quarterback in football. He doesn’t wait until a receiver is open to throw the ball. He knows that’s too late.”

Tray Croft led Iowa Central with 25 points. Prince Moss added 16 and Kam Swift 11. Pilcher played just six players until Croft fouled out with two seconds to play.

“We are in a position where we’re going to have to play six or seven guys right now,” said Pilcher. “(Buay) Jok has to come off the bench and contribute. We need something out of him.”

DMACC was led by Wali Parks with 24 points. Nibra White added 20.

Iowa Central took a 6-2 lead early but the Bears used an 8-0 run to lead 10-6 with 15:06 in the half. The lead grew to 22-14 with 5:43 before the Tritons snuck back to 22-19 with 2:35 in the half.

Again, DMACC used a 6-0 run to lead 28-19 at the break.

Iowa Central used an 11-2 run to start the second half and cut the lead to 34-30 with 16:57 to play. The Tritons finally went back on top on a three by Moss, leading 45-44 with 9:20 left.

But again the Bears had an answer. After Croft tied it at 49-all with 7:32 left, the visitors scored the next eight and led 57-49. Iowa Central snuck back within three points at 64-61 on a bucket by Croft with 48 seconds to go.

DMACC scored its final 11 points at the free throw line to keep the Tritons from getting any closer.

The Tritons travel to Mason City for a league game with North Iowa Saturday. They host Iowa Lakes next Wednesday.

DMACC 72, Iowa Central 66

DMACC – Nibra White 8-16 3-8 20, CJ Payawal 0-0 3-4 3, Adam Shorkey 0-0 0-0 0, Brendan Lipovsky 4-6 0-0 9, Antowine Locke 1-6 3-4 5, Nysir Marshburn 3-4 2-2 8, Wali Parks 8-15 8-10 24, Shammond Ivory 1-6 0-0 3. Totals: 25-53 19-28 72.

Iowa Central – Kam Swift 5-10 0-2 11, Tray Croft 9-15 3-5 25, Prince Moss 6-17 0-1 16, Ben Hayes 2-8 0-0 6, David Miller 2-9 1-3 6, Buay Jok 1-2 0-0 2, Robert Hawkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-61 4-11 66.

Three-point shots: DMACC 3-14 (White 1-4, Lipovsky 1-3, Locke 0-2, Parks 0-1, Ivory 1-4). Iowa Central 12-34 (Swift 1-4, Croft 4-9, Moss 4-10, Hayes 2-8, Miller 1-3); Halftime: DMACC 29, Iowa Central 18; Totals fouls: DMACC 16, Iowa Central 22; Fouled out: Marshburn, Croft.

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