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Back on track

After dropping a road tilt to Des Moines Area on Wednesday, the No. 19 Iowa Central men faced a halftime deficit here Saturday vs. Ellsworth.

Following the break in play, the Tritons found their way, rallying for a 65-56 victory over the Panthers inside Hodges Fieldhouse on Jam-the-Gym day.

Tray Croft, who entered the contest needing 102 points to become the school’s career leader, posted a game-high 27. Dallas Bailey knocked down five three-pointers and scored 15, as Iowa Central (17-6 overall, 3-3 in ICCAC) outscored Ellsworth 37-28 over the final 20 minutes of play.

“Give Ellsworth credit because they have been in almost all of their losses this year,” ICCC head coach Dennis Pilcher said. “They do a good job of not rushing things, but I thought our guys picked it up in the second half. We did a better job on the boards and a better job of taking care of the basketball.”

Croft was held to just nine points in the opening half as the Panthers (12-9, 1-5) led 29-27.

Iowa Central, coming off a 90-75 loss to the Bears, committed just four turnovers in the second half. Royshawn Webb’s bucket with just over nine to play gave the Tritons their first lead of the contest.

“I’ve been on them for playing too fast (at DMACC),” Pilcher said. “I thought we needed to control the tempo more and that’s what they did. At times, maybe we should have went quicker, so the goal is to find a happy medium between too fast and too slow.”

Thomas Akamarmoi added 10 points and five rebounds for Iowa Central. Croft led the team with eight boards and also had four assists and two steals, with Bailey grabbing six rebounds.

“Tray had a good night and Dallas knocked down some big shots,” Pilcher said. “Thomas is doing a better job of shooting the basketball.

“It wasn’t a pretty win, but I’ll take it.”

Ellsworth was led by Tristan Forsyth’s 17 points, but just three of those came after the intermission. Darius Lasley scored 10 and Jamal Antonie had eight points and seven assists.

The Tritons return to on Wednesday, hosting Marshalltown at 7 p.m.

IOWA CENTRAL 65, ELLSWORTH 56

Iowa Central — Tray Croft 7-16 11-13 27, Royshawn Webb 4-7 1-2 9, Dallas Bailey 5-12 0-2 15, Collin Shannon 1-5 0-0 2, Thomas Akamarmoi 2-7 5-6 10, Kane Kramer 0-1 0-0 0, Kemryn Jenkins 0-2 2-2 2, Raphael Jegede 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-51 19-25 65.

Ellsworth — Tate Muilenburg 1-3 0-0 3, Jamal Antonie 3-8 2-2 8, Darius Lasley 4-13 0-0 10, Josh Donaldson 1-8 0-0 3, Tristan Forsyth 6-10 4-6 17, LaVeechie Williams 1-3 2-2 4, LJ Harris 1-5 0-0 3, Dayton Gooder 1-5 2-2 5, Julius Coates 1-1 0-0 2, Wes Meyer 0-1 0-0 0, Leiland Lewis 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 19-58 11-14 56.

Halftime score: Ellsworth led 29-27. Three-point goals: 8-30 (Croft 2-9, Bailey 5-12, Shannon 0-3, Akamarmoi 1-4, Jenkins 0-2); Ellsworth 7-32 (Muilenburg 1-2, Antoine 0-3, Lasley 2-9, Donaldson 1-7, Forsyth 1-1, Harris 1-5, Gooder 1-4, Lewis 0-1). Total rebounds: Iowa Central 32, Ellsworth 43. Assists: Iowa Central 10, Ellsworth 12. Steals: Iowa Central 7, Ellsworth 5. Blocked shots: Ellsworth 1. Team fouls: Iowa Central 11, Ellsworth 21. Technical foul: Iowa Central bench. Turnovers: Iowa Central 9, Ellsworth 16.

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