NIACC knocks off Ellsworth, 104-99

MASON CITY - The NIACC men's basketball team topped Ellsworth 104-99 in its final regular season contest Wednesday night in the NIACC gym.

Sophomore Myles Tucker scored 38 points and Jaydin Dunlap scored 30 points to lead the Trojans to the ICCAC victory. Tucker became the 12th player in NIACC men's basketball history to score 1,000 career points.

Tucker reached the 1,000-point milestone with a pair of free throws with 4:30 left in the contest.

Tucker now has 1,012 career points, which ranks 11th in school history. Clyde McCully (1998-2000) ranks ninth with 1,033 career points and Paul Bruns (1993-95) ranks 10th with 1,020 career points.

Tucker was 6 of 14 from the field, including four 3-pint goals. Tucker was also 12 of 15 from the free-throw line.

It is the fourth time this season that Tucker has scored at least 30 points in a game and fifth time in his career. The 38 points was four off his career high of 42 points against Southwestern on Jan. 28.

It was the second time this season that two NIACC players scored at least 29 points in a game. On Jan. 14, Chett Helming and Tucker both scored 29 points.

Ellsworth led 52-51 at the half, but NIACC outscored the Panthers 53-47 in the second half to claim the five-point victory.

The 104 points by the Trojans was the most they have scored in a game against Ellsworth since topping the Panthers 108-103 in double overtime in the 2011-12 season.

It was the second time this season that the Trojans have scored 100 points in a contest. They also topped Western Technical College 103-88 on Nov. 12 at the Dale Howard Classic in Iowa Falls.

Also for the Trojans, Helming scored 17 points and Koen Derry scored eight points. Helming led the Trojans with a game-high 13 rebounds.

Freshman guard Jeremiah Babers led the Trojans with nine assists.

Ellsworth was led by Shawn Fulcher with 40 points.

Wednesday night was sophomore night for the NIACC men's basketball team. Sophomores Helming, Tucker, Kenny Quinn and Justice Jones played in their last game in the NIACC gym.

Ninth-seed NIACC (12-18 overall, 4-12 in the ICCAC) opens the NJCAA Region XI tournament against eighth-seed Northeast CC at 7 p.m. Friday in Estherville in the play-in game.

The winner of the NIACC/Northeast CC contest faces top-seed Iowa Lakes at 5 p.m. Saturday in the tournament quarterfinals.

Fourth-seed Ellsworth faces fifth-seed Iowa Central at 7 p.m. Saturday in the regional tournament quarterfinals.