Ottumwa -- The day after they ascended to the top of the national rankings, Indian Hills made sure there would be no letdown as the Warriors dismantled Ellsworth CC, 96-60, at the Hellyer Center Wednesday night. The Warriors, who moved into the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA DI poll this week, used six 3-pointers in the opening half to break open a close game and raced to their 28th consecutive win.
With the game tied at 13-all, Jamel Allen drilled one of his four 3s to give Indian Hills the lead for good. Tomas Woldetensae followed with another three and shortly after that Connor Murrell, who returned to action after sitting out the previous five contests and 10 of the last 12, contributed a 3-point play to cap an 8-0 run.
Allen and James Jean-Marie each scored 16 to lead the Warriors. Jean-Marie punctuated his night with his first 3-pointer of the season. Antonio "Booman" Williams added 13 points and Ivan Aurrecoechea and Rob Montgomery supplied 11 apiece.
The margin was 16 points at intermission, then the Warriors built the advantage to over 30 not quite midway through the second half.
Indian Hills shot 52 percent and held ECC (13-11) to 36 percent.
Tristan Forsyth topped the Panthers with 17 points.
It was the 17th straight time IHCC has beaten Ellsworth, with 12 of those victories coming at the Hellyer Center.
The 11 3s that Indian Hills made marked the third time in the past four games they have had double-digit 3-point totals. The Warriors have made 238 in 28 games.
The final regular season home test will be Saturday night against Northeast (Neb.). After that only one game remains before the postseason, a trip to Iowa Western on Feb. 24.
INDIAN HILLS 96, ELLSWORTH 60
INDIAN HILLS
Ivan Aurrecoechea 5 1-2 11, Jamel Allen 6 0-0 16, Antonio Williams 3 6-8 13, Tomas Woldetensae 2 3-3 9, Shane Gatling 0 2-2 2, Connor Murrell 2 1-1 6, Devontae Lane 0 0-0 0, Corey Manigault 2 5-6 9, Rob Montgomery 4 2-2 11, James Jean-Marie 7 1-2 16, Javier Valeiras 1 0-0 3 Team 32 21-26 96
ELLSWORTH
Darius Lasley 2 0-0 5, Tristan Forsyth 8 0-0 17, LaVeechie Williams 4 3-5 11, Jamal Antoine 0 2-2 2, LJ Harris 2 3-4 8, Josh Donaldson 1 0-0 3, Julius Coates 4 1-3 9, Dayton Gooder 1 0-0 3, Tate Muilenburg 1 0-0 2, Logan Zobel 0 0-0 0 Team 23 9-14 60
Halftime score: Indian Hills 46, Ellsworth 30; Three-point field goals: IHCC 11 (Allen 4, Woldetensae 2, Williams 1, Murrell 1, Montgomery 1, Jean-Marie 1, Valeiras 1), ECC 5 (Lasley 1, Forsyth 1, Harris 1, Donaldson 1, Gooder 1)