Spartans swept by NIACC

The North Iowa Area Community College basketball teams picked up a pair of road victories at Southwestern Saturday afternoon.

The No. 12-ranked NIACC women rolled to a 94-23 victory over the Spartans after a dominant 55-6 first half. The Trojans (24-3 overall, 18-3 ICCAC) outscored the Spartans 24-2 in the third quarter and led 79-8 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Freshman Payton Meincke led NIACC by scoring a game-high 15 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Thirteen NIACC players scored in the game.

Southwestern was limited to six available players Saturday. Tammy Scott finished with 11 points for the Spartans (4-25, 0-21 ICCAC). Jaide McPhee had five points and five rebounds. Jordyn Hall contributed four points and six rebounds. Southwestern shot just 15.7% from the field (8-51) and had 25 turnovers to NIACC’s 10.

Southwestern women finish the regular season Wednesday at West Burlington against Southeastern (7-22, 2-19).

The NIACC men improved to 16-13 overall and 8-11 in the ICCAC with an 81-71 victory over Southwestern.

The Spartans rallied from a 25-14 deficit in the first half to take a 35-34 lead before the half ended in a 36-36 tie.

NIACC’s 11-2 run to start the second half opened up a 47-38 lead and the Trojans maintained a similar cushion for the win. Free throws carried the Trojans down the stretch after Southwestern had closed to within four at 55-51.

The Trojans had a 20-point advantage at the line, making 33 of 39 attempts as the Spartans committed 30 fouls.

TJ Cusciotta went 15-of-18 at the line in leading NIACC with 23 points. Four Spartans scored in double figures, led by Micah Hines with 19 points. Alec Belter had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, along with six assists.

Belter was among five sophomores honored prior to their final home appearance. Others were Ethan Crawford of Creston, Luka Pecelj, Justine De La Cruz and Theo Alexandersson.

The Spartans (8-21, 4-15 ICCAC) conclude the regular season Wednesday at Western Iowa Tech.

Women’s game

SOUTHWESTERN (23) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 8 5-10 23. Tammy Scott 4 2-2 11, Jaide McPhee 2 1-2 5, Jordyn Hall 1 2-6 4, Malaina Rodriguez 1 0-0 3. FG shooting — 8-51 (15.7 percent). 3-point goals — 2-8 (Scott 1, Rodriguez 1). Rebounds — 19 (Hall 6, McPhee 5). Assists — 1 (Olano 1). Steals — 5 (Scott 3, Hall 2). Turnovers — 25. Team fouls — 7. Fouled out — None.

NIACC (94) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 41 5-6 94. Peyton Meincke 8 0-0 16, Ciara Seifert 7 1-1 15, Machaela Trask 4 0-0 12, Zaria Falls 5 0-0 10, Reggi Spotts 4 2-3 10, Tillie Smith 3 0-0 8, Grace Berding 2 0-0 5, Emerson Ingvalson 2 0-0 4, Allie Zittel 2 0-0 4, Tillotti Fair 2 0-0 4, Reagan Niebuhr 1 0-0 2, Ella Stoskopf 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 41-80 (51.3 percent). 3-point goals — 7-30 (Trask 4, Smith 2, Berding 1). Rebounds — 51 (Meincke 10, Seifert 9). Assists — 18 (Spotts 5). Steals — 15 (Hemann 4). Turnovers — 10. Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.

Men’s game

SOUTHWESTERN (71) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 25 13-18 71. Micah Hines 6 6-8 19, Alec Belter 4 4-7 14, Justine De La Cruz 5 1-1 12, Myles Opare 4 0-0 10, Niko Wilson 1 2-2 5, Theo Alexandersson Ohnell 2 0-0 5, Benoit Ndione 2 0-0 4, Noa Daguet 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 25-68 (36.8 percent). 3-point goals — 8-19 (Belter 2, Opare 2, Hines 1, De La Cruz 1, Wilson 1, Ohnell 1). Rebounds — 27 (Belter 10, De La Cru 7, Opare 4). Assists — 15 (Belter 6, De La Cruz 4). Steals — 4 (Ohnell 2). Blocked shots — 1 (De La Cruz 1). Turnovers — 9. Team fouls — 30. Fouled out — Ohnell.

NIACC (81) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 21 33-39 81. TJ Cusciotta 3 15-18 23, Lance Helming 6 3-3 19, Jacob Martin 4 11-12 19, RJ Mitchell 4 0-0 8, Cameron Reigard 2 3-5 7, Bryson Robinson 2 1-1 5. FG shooting — 21-50 (42.0 percent). 3-point goals — 6-20 (Helming 4, Cusciotta 2). Rebounds — 36 (Reigard 13, Mitchell 9). Assists — 7 (Robinson 3). Steals — 4 (Martin 2). Turnovers — 16. Team fouls — 16. Fouled out — None.