No. 9 Ellsworth tops Spartans

A second-half rally by the Southwestern men Saturday came up short in a 57-52 home loss to No. 9-ranked Ellsworth.

The Panthers (18-5 overall, 10-3 in second place in the ICCAC) established a 31-23 halftime lead. Southwestern outscored Ellsworth 29-26 in the second half in a strong defensive effort, but it wasn’t enough.

Southwestern made 3 of 25 shots from 3-point range (12%) and shot just 30% from the field overall.

“It was definitely a slow start offensively,” Southwestern coach Shane Sweany said. “It was one of those games where the shots weren’t falling. But give Ellsworth credit. They’re big and athletic. They were 6-10, 6-11 in the post and that makes it tough to finish inside. They were really long and a lot of our shots were contested. But I’m proud of how we competed and we played solid defense.”

Sophomore Patrick Worrell had a double-double for the Spartans with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Joseph Bell had a team-high 17 points. Andrew Scoggins and Fatih Huyuk each had six rebounds.

Southwestern, now sixth in the ICCAC at 5-7, fell to 13-11 overall going into Wednesday’s trip to Iowa Western (14-10, 7-5). The Spartans host NIACC (9-14, 3-10) at 3 p.m. Saturday.

SOUTHWESTERN (52) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 13-16 52. Joseph Bell 5 6-6 17, Patrick Worrell 6 1-3 14, Fatih Huyuk 3 1-1 7, James Braddy 0 3-4 3, Corbin Dozier 1 0-0 3, AJ Doctor 0 2-2 2, Andrew Scoggins 1 0-0 2, Kyren Angelo 1 0-0 2, Justin Bussey 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 18-59 (30.5 percent). 3-point goals — 3-25 (Bell 1, Worrell 1, Dozier 1). Rebounds — 39 (Worrell 13, Scoggins 6, Huyuk 6, Doctor 5, Bell 5). Assists — 13 (Angelo 4). Steals — 11 (Bell 3, Worrell 2). Blocked shots — none. Turnovers — 19. Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — Worrell.

ELLSWORTH (57) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 20 12-18 57. Chimobi Ikegwuruka 9 1-3 20, Clinton Efinda 3 8-11 14, Jaron Crews 2 1-2 6, Jordan Glenn-Hawkins 1 2-2 5, Arlandus Keyes 1 0-0 2, Bessanty Saragba 1 0-0 2, Velijko Munitlak 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 20-51 (39.2 percent). 3-point goals — 5-16 (Willis 2, Ikegwuruka 1, Glenn-Hawkins 1, Crews 1). Rebounds — 39 (Ikegwuruka 7). Assists — 15 (Keyes 7). Steals — 11 (Crews 3). Blocked shots — 2. Turnovers — 17. Team fouls — 15. Fouled out — None.