By Marissa VanWingen, The Times-Citizen
Cedar Rapids, IA – Fourth-ranked Kirkwood Community College hosted sixth-seed Ellsworth Community College on Wednesday in the Region XI Semifinals. The Eagles had dominated the first two meetings, winning by an average of 29-points. The final contest was close until the final five minutes when the hosts pulled away for the 72-52 decision, ending the Panthers season at 20-12 overall.
"Kirkwood was good for a multitude of reasons. They didn't beat themselves, their physicality and defensively they were the best in the country according to analytics," said ECC coach Bryan Bender. "This year more than the past two teams they also scored it better from three and got to the FT line and rebound. They were extremely efficient and disciplined."
In the other semifinal, Iowa Central Community College won their eighth game in a row and upended top-seed and third-ranked DMACC to advance to Saturday's final back in Cedar Rapids. The win most likely gives the Tritons the fast track for an at-large bid to Nationals.
ECC was hot early in the first half – especially Enki Diarra-Gentes. The freshman from France hit four of his five triples in the opening 20 minutes of the game. His second long ball lifted the visitors to a 7-4 lead. The advantage was short-lived as Kirkwood (28-3) responded with a three-ball of their own. Kirkwood then nabbed one of their seven steals and connected on an easy basket for their first lead of the game.
The two would trade advantages just two more times, with a Taevean Famutimi-Brown three-pointer giving the Panthers their final lead. The hosts responded with an 18-4 run to go up by double digits (27-14). The scoring spree ended with a Diarra-Gentes make. A rare Eagle turnover led to a Rollings Kamanda basket to cut the deficit to nine. The closest the visitors came before the half was five with Diarra-Gentes' final tres before the break. Tanner Berggren drained his only basket of the game at the buzzer as ECC trailed 35-29 heading into the break.
The Panthers (20-12) shot 34.5 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes and had seven turnovers.
Throughout the opening minutes of the second half, the visitors kept the game within reach but Kirkwood would keep them from ever taking the lead back. The Eagles went on several runs before ECC would respond. With under eight minutes left in the game, Kamanda nabbed a defensive rebound and went the length of the floor. He made the layup and was fouled for the three-point play, making it a 51-48 difference. The Eagles turned around and made seven unanswered to push the advantage back up to 10 and then made the final 12 points of the game to put the score out of reach.
Other than Diarra-Gentes' five three-pointers, the rest of the squad was just 18 percent from deep. He was the lone ECC player in double figures, finishing with 21 points. Diarra-Gentes shot 87.5 percent from the floor and added five rebounds.
For more Times-Citizen coverage of Ellsworth athletics: https://www.timescitizen.com/sports/ecc/
