Photo courtesy of Iowa Central Athletics: Aleix Sempere Serrano dunks for Iowa Central on Wednesday in Boone against DMACC in a Region XI men’s basketball semifinal.

BOONE — The Iowa Central men are proving that what happened in the regular season does not matter once the postseason rolls around.

For the second straight time, the Tritons posted a victory over a team that swept them during the year, knocking off No. 3 Des Moines Area Community College here Wednesday night, 83-76.

With the win, Iowa Central (20-11 overall) advances to take on fourth-ranked Kirkwood this Saturday in Cedar Rapids for the Region XI crown at 4 p.m. The Eagles topped Ellsworth last night, 72-52.

“It was just an unbelievable effort by our guys,” ICCC head coach Ryan Kirsch said. “This was a really big win for our program, and we are excited to be in the Region XI Tournament championship game.”

Kirsch was previously an assistant coach at Kirkwood, helping them capture a national title.

The Tritons, who have won eight in a row, dropped both games to Iowa Lakes during the ICCAC regular season, but topped the Lakers in the quarterfinals, 81-58. They lost to DMACC by a combined 30 points in the two previous meetings.

Down by as many as 19 in the first half and 10 at the break, Iowa Central came out and put together a strong stretch run to surge past the homestanding Bears (29-3), who had gone 17-1 in the ICCAC during the regular season.

“We felt like we really withstood a really big punch by DMACC in the first half,” Kirsch said. “We made some adjustments. We’ve struggled to score against them because of their defense, but it was a big second half by Jordan Cain that made the difference.

“Jordan scored close to 30 in the second half and was just unbelievable. He put the Superman cape on and made some big plays.”

Iowa Central stunned Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids back in early December, 83-62, but the Eagles returned the favor in Fort Dodge later on, 71-64.

The winner between Iowa Central and Kirkwood qualifies for the NJCAA Div. II National Tournament, which takes place March 17-22 in Danville, Ill.