By: Dana Becker 

Messenger Sports Staff 

Chad Helle understands that there are no nights off when competing the ICCAC.

Inside Hodges Fieldhouse on Wednesday night, the Tritons were unable to keep pace with fourth-ranked Des Moines Area, falling 90-76.

The latest NJCAA Div. II poll features four league teams ranked in the Top-12 with the Bears (13-1 overall, 4-0) being joined by seventh-ranked Ellsworth, No. 8 Iowa Lakes and 12th-rated Kirkwood. Iowa Central (1-9, 0-3) has played Ellsworth once before and still has six games remaining against those four after the holiday break.

"You learn at this level that every possession is important," Helle said. "You cannot afford to take a single play off or you'll get beat. We are still in the process of learning what it takes to compete night in and night out against the teams in this league."

Mekhi Wilson matched DMACC's Angelo Winkel with 29 points, hitting six 3-pointers. Chase Low had 14, Miles Fant 12 and Deuce Blake 11 for the Tritons.

With seven minutes to go in the first half, the Bears held a three-point lead but would go on a 19-6 closing run to take command.

On the night, Iowa Central shot 46 percent from the field and made seven triples, but saw DMACC hold a 45-29 advantage int total rebounds including a 13-4 edge on the offensive end.

"We played hard, did some really good things against a very good team," said Helle. "Just had a couple 5 minute stretches where we did some unusual things and they took advantage. We have to be able to stick to what our core principles are in tight situations. Once we do that, we will be fine."

Iowa Central heads to Council Bluffs on Sunday to face Iowa Western for a 4 p.m. tip. They conclude the month Dec. 29-30 with games in Worthington, Minn. against Minnesota North-Hibbing and Minnesota West.