- Abdelkarim tops DMACC with 16 points
- Freshmen Victor Desmond and Jaron Crews add 12 and 11 points respectively
- Bears pull away after trailing 40-39 at halftime
Freshman Kwat Abdelkarim of Lincoln, Neb., scored 16 points to lead the DMACC men's basketball team to a 78-63 win over Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) February 15 inside the DMACC gymnasium.
Freshman Victor Desmond of Onalaska, Wis., had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Jaron Crews of Ankeny added 11 points as the Bears improved to 21-6 for the season and 9-4 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
The win avenged an 86-83 double-overtime loss to IWCC Jan. 17 at Council Bluffs.
IWCC led by as many as six points in the opening half before settling for a 40-39 lead at halftime. The game was tied at 42 before a 15-4 run gave DMACC a 57-46 lead with just more than nine minutes to play. The Bears never led by less than eight points the rest of the way.
DMACC, ranked 14th in this week's Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), shot 49 percent, making 31 of 63 field goal attempts. The Bears were 5-of-19 from three-point range and 11-of-17 from the free throw line.
Desmond's 10 rebounds lifted DMACC to a 46-28 advantage on the boards. Abdelkarim finished with eight rebounds, freshman Angelo Winkel of Algona had seven rebounds to go with nine points and Covid-19 sophomore (CoSO) Jimarius Sneed of Chicago, Ill., had five rebounds. Sophomore Greg Brown of Omaha, Neb., led DMACC in assists with three and Thomas topped the Bears in steals with three.
The DMACC men's basketball team will face Ellsworth Community College (ECC) Feb. 18 at Iowa Falls. The Panthers are 20-6 overall and 8-5 in the ICCAC. The Bears came away with a 92-86 win when the two teams played Jan. 21 inside the DMACC gymnasium.
