Tritons dominate Spartans inside, 98-59

The fourth-ranked Iowa Central men showed inside dominance in pulling away to a 98-59 victory Saturday at Southwestern.

The Tritons, improving to 12-1 overall and 4-1 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, finished with a 47-24 rebounding edge, leading to a 22-2 advantage in second-chance points.

That proved too much for the smaller Spartans to overcome, despite a nice rally late in the first half that shaved a 22-point deficit to seven at 41-34 with three minutes left in the half. Alec Belter’s 3-point shooting spree ignited SWCC’s 16-1 run after trailing 40-18 earlier in the half.

Iowa Central took a 48-36 lead into halftime and stretched it to as high as a 41-point margin during a 50-23 second half. After the break, the Spartans were unable to gain the same offensive rhythm as the first-half spurt. Belter finished with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, but no other Spartan reached double-figure scoring.

Tashun Pender scored 21 points to lead Iowa Central, which had five players score in double figures.

“We are starting to understand that we need each other to win game,” Southwestern coach Darryl Fletcher said. “The next step is us playing team defense and communicating at a high level. We still are not as physical around the rim as I would like us to be. We must find a way to finish games with better effort and energy.”

After seeing Southwestern crawl back within seven with just more than two minutes left in the first half, Iowa Central closed the half on a 7-2 run to stretch its lead back to double figures at 48-36.

By the time Manny Lueth hit a 3-pointer for Iowa Central four minutes into the second half, it was a 20-point game (59-39) and the Spartans trailed by 20 or more the rest of the way.

After Belter, the next highest scorers for Southwestern were Micah Hines (nine points) and Noa Daguet (eight). Bayley Lattenstein provided seven points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Southwestern, now 2-9 overall and 0-5 in ICCAC play, finishes the pre-holiday break portion of the schedule Wednesday in a trip to eighth-ranked Kirkwood (9-4, 2-3).

SOUTHWESTERN (59) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 21 7-8 59. Alec Belter 7 2-3 20, Micah Hines 3 1-1 9, Noa Daguet 3 2-2 8, Bayley Lattenstein 2 2-2 7, Theo Alexandersson Ohnell 2 0-0 6, Myles Opare 2 0-0 5, Luka Pecelj 1 0-0 2, Benoit Ndione 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 21-62 (33.9 percent). 3-point goals — 10-27 (Belter 4, Ohnell 2, Hines 2, Opare 1 Lattenstein 1). Rebounds — 24 (Belter 6, Lattenstein 5, Daguet 4, Opare 3). Assists — 14 (Lattenstein 3, Opare 3, Hines 3). Steals — 7 (Wilkins 2, Daguet 2, Belter 2). Blocked shots — 1 (Belter 1). Turnovers — 9 Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — None.

IOWA CENTRAL (98) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 38 14-20 98. Tashun Pender 9 3-4 21, Jordan Cain 6 5-76 19, Aleix Sempere 6 3-5 15, Dorian Pruitt 4 0-0 12, Manny Lueth 4 0-0 10, Jalen Wynter 3 1-2 7, CJ Mitchell 2 0-0 4, Jon Roberts 2 0-0 4, Carter Loney 2 0-0 4Jaxson Cathcart 0 2-2 2. FG shooting — 38-78 (48.7 percent). 3-point goals — 8-26 (Pruitt 4, Cain 2, Lueth 2). Rebounds — 47 (Sempere 11, Roberts 7, Pender 7). Assists — 17 (Mitchell 8, Liueth 4). Steals — 7 (Sempere 3, Mitchell 2). Blocked shots — 6 (Pender 2, Lueth 2). Turnovers — 3. Team fouls — 5. Fouled out — None.