The Iowa Central Men's Basketball team had a good weekend in Nebraska this past weekend as they ran their record to 3-1 on the season with wins over Central Community College of Columbus, NE 98-92 on Friday afternoon and then a 94-66 win over Northeast Community College of Norfolk, NE on Saturday night.
In a back and forth first half against Central, Iowa Central took a 47-39 lead into halftime. The Tritons came out hot in the second half and opened a 21 point lead with 16 minutes to go. But Central wouldn't quit and cut the lead to as close at 6 but the Tritons held on to win. "I thought we played well for the first 30 minutes of the game. We got the lead and then relaxed and Central made a run at us. Luckily for us, we made some plays down the stretch to keep our lead," said Dennis Pilcher, Head Coach of Iowa Central. "Overall, I was happy with the win."
Tray Croft led Iowa Central in scoring with 31 points. Dallas Bailey finished with 19 and Collin Shannon and Thomas Akamarmoi both finished with 15. Croft also had 12 rebounds and 7 assist, Shannon finished with 7 assist as well.
On Saturday, hot shooting propelled Iowa Central to the 94-66 victory. The Tritons were an impressive 19-34 from the 3-point line during the game, which included 14-19 in the first half. "We shot the ball really well which always helps. But I thought we moved the ball really well to get those wide open shots. It's hard to guard when the ball is moving." Said Pilcher.
After a slow start to the game which Iowa Central found its self-down 12-5 early, the Tritons got hot and went on to close the half by outscoring Northeast by a score of 53-27. The hot shooting continued in the second half as well as Iowa Central opened a lead as big as 31 on Northeast. "We might have played as well as any team has in the last couple years. Northeast is a talented team and we had to make them play half-court basketball. I thought we did a very good job of limiting their size to one shot too." Said Pilcher.
Freshman Thomas Akamarmoi led all scorers with a game high 26 points. Tray Croft finished with 25 points and Dallas Bailey with 16. Royshawn Webb had a solid night as well scoring 4 points and hauling down 8 rebounds. All 14 Tritons saw action in the win on Saturday night.
With the 2 wins, Iowa Central now stands at 3-1 overall. Their next games will be this weekend, Nov. 17th-18th as they travel to the DMACC Classic in Boone, IA to take on Oakland Community College of Michigan on Friday night at 5:30pm and then County Upper Academy of England on Saturday at 2:00pm. The Tritons return home on Monday, November 20th against Dakota County of Rosemount, MN starting at 7:30pm