Ottumwa -- On the strength of 14 second-half points from Antonio "Booman" Williams and a season-high-tying 13 points by Devontae Lane, No. 2-rated Indian Hills was finally able to shake visiting Southeastern CC in the final nine minutes and the Warriors recorded an 85-69 win on Wednesday night. It was IHCC's 11th straight win against the rival Blackhawks and the eighth in a row at the Hellyer Center.
Rob Montgomery had two big baskets with the Warriors trying to hold off any late-game charge from SCC. Indian Hills led 56-51 -- the closest the Blackhawks were the entire second half -- when Montgomery scored in the lane to push the lead to seven. The margin was still seven with 7:56 to go before Montgomery drained a baseline jumper.
After SCC scored, Lane drilled his third 3-pointer of the evening and Williams had three of the next four buckets as the lead grew to double digits and the Warriors nailed down their 24th win in a row and 5th without a loss in the ICCAC standings.
Shane Gatling tallied 16 points for IHCC and connected on his 74th and 75th 3-pointers of the season.
Patrick Jackson's 15 points topped SCC. Ramir Dixon-Conover added 14.
After shooting 44 percent in the opening half, the Warriors made 53 percent in the last 20 minutes.
Montgomery had five blocked shots to go along with nine points and six rebounds. Williams was 9-for-12 from the floor.
Indian Hills played for the first time all season without 6-8 sophomore Ivan Aurrecoechea, their third-leading scorer and number-one rebounder. He was sidelined with a sprained ankle.
The score was tied five times in the first half, the last at 21-21. Then, Indian Hills ran off eight points in a row and the margin was never fewer than five after that.
With Iowa Western losing at Marshalltown, the Warriors now own a two-game lead over IWCC with three conference games left to play. The next two contests for Indian Hills will be outside the league and both will be at home -- against Illinois Valley on Saturday and North Central Missouri next Tuesday.
INDIAN HILLS 85, SOUTHEASTERN 69
INDIAN HILLS
Jamel Allen 2 2-4 7, Antonio Williams 9 2-4 21, Tomas Woldetensae 2 0-0 5, Shane Gatling 3 8-8 16, Devontae Lane 4 2-2 13, Corey Manigault 2 1-2 5, Rob Montgomery 4 1-1 9, James Jean-Marie 3 1-1 7, Javier Valeiras 1 0-0 2 Team 30 17-22 85
SOUTHEASTERN
Patrick Jackson 4 6-6 15, Kourtney Ware 2 0-0 5, Victor Nwagbaraocha 2 1-1 5, Ramir Dixon-Conover 6 0-0 14, Brandon Miller 3 3-4 11, Neshua Wise 3 1-1 7, DeAndre Barton 3 0-1 6, Niksa Nikolic 1 0-0 2, Alier Riak 1 2-2 4 Team 25 13-16 69
Halftime score: Indian Hills 43, Southeastern 36; Three-point field goals: IHCC 8 (Lane 3, Gatling 2, Allen 1, Williams 1, Woldetensae 1), SCC 6 (Dixon-Conover 2, Miller 2, Jackson 1, Ware 1)