The Iowa Central men have felt the sting of several close losses so far this season, with another coming here Wednesday night.
North Iowa Area relied on the inside presence of Wyatt Helming to score an 81-73 victory inside Hodges Fieldhouse over the Tritons.
Helming finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, sending Iowa Central (1-7 overall, 0-2 in ICCAC) to a seventh consecutive loss. Four of those defeats have come by single digits.
"We're right there," ICCC head coach Chad Helle said. "A few made buckets here and some made free throws there and we're on a win streak instead.
"We've just got to keep working and keep building. We'll turn this around because these kids are willing to listen and get better."
Randy Latham led the way for the Tritons with 16 points while Deuce Blake added 13. Daviyon Gaston finished with 12, Mehki Wilson had 10 and Riley Edwards nine.
Along with Helming, Omarion Roberts scored 18 and Malaki Johnson-Bassey 10 to pace NIACC, who outscored Iowa Central after the break, 47-38.
"We need to work on getting better on the defensive end," Helle said. "At times, we do the right things but a simple mistake here or there tends to pop up at the worst possible time for us."
The Trojans (7-4, 1-1) shot 16 more free throws and made eight more points from the line to overcome 15 turnovers and eight made 3-pointers by Iowa Central. Blake hit three of the triples with Gaston and Latham each adding two.
Up next for the Tritons will be a road game in Nebraska on Saturday vs. Central-Columbus. Last month, Iowa Central lost at home to the Raiders, 63-61.
NORTH IOWA AREA 81, IOWA CENTRAL 73
Iowa Central — Deuce Blake 4-13 2-2 13, Mekhi Wilson 3-8 4-5 10, Miles Fant 2-9 1-2 5, Daviyon Gaston 5-7 0-0 12, Terrius Walker 3-4 0-0 6, Jameson Fisher 0-3 0-0 0, Chase Low 0-6 2-2 2, Riley Edwards 4-9 0-0 9, Randy Latham 7-12 0-0 16. Totals: 28-71 9-11 73.
NIACC — Marquel Newsome 2-7 3-8 8, Omarion Roberts 7-15 4-4 18, Carter Pataska 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt Helming 12-18 4-5 29, James Jennings 0-2 2-4 2, Jordan Brown 3-10 2-4 8, Malaki Johnson-Bassey 3-3 2-2 10, Keon Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Hackett 0-0 0-0 0, Brayden Drea 2-5 0-0 6. Totals: 29-60 17-27 81.
Halftime score: Iowa Central led 35-34. Three-point goals: Iowa Central 8-23 (Blake 3, Gaston 2, Latham 2, Edwards 1), NIACC 6-16 (Newsome 1, Helming 1, Johnson-Bassey 2, Drea 2). Total rebounds: Iowa Central 37, NIACC 43. Assists: Iowa Central 13, NIACC 8. Steals: Iowa Central 7, NIACC 6. Blocked shots: Iowa Central 3, NIACC 8. Turnovers: Iowa Central 9, NIACC 15. Personal fouls: Iowa Central 17, NIACC 13.