Childs Helps IHCC Survive OT Scare

Childs

Ottumwa -- Chris Childs drilled two straight 3-pointers to begin overtime, added another one later in the OT period, and Indian Hills got past Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 77-74, Friday night in the Financial Partners Classic at the Hellyer Center.

Childs had all three of his team's field goals in overtime and also made both ends of a big 1-and-1 situation to end up with a season-high 24 points.  His 3-pointer with 2:25 remaining in regulation snapped a 56-all tie and he was 6-for-11 from behind the arc for the game.

Gavin Harris answered Childs' three with one of his own late in the second half to knot the score at 59.  It was Harris' first basket of the game.  But he wasn't finished.  After IHCC's Maurice Calloo nailed a three with 35.6 seconds on the clock to push the Warriors back on top, 62-59, Harris got loose for another three that tied the score at 62-62 heading to OT.  A last-second attempt by Childs to give Indian Hills the win was off the mark and on to overtime the game went.

The Golden Norsemen missed the first shot of a pair of critical 1-and-1s in OT.  In fact, all 12 of their points in that 5-minute period were scored by Rudi Williams.  Williams made six straight foul shots and a couple of big 3s, the last of which sliced the IHCC advantage to 77-74 with 1.4 seconds left.  After a timeout, the Warriors were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock for their 5th straight win to begin the season.

Along with Childs' 11 overtime points, IHCC got four straight free throws by Tyrese Nickelson in the final minute to hold off the NEO upset bid.

Indian Hills trailed for a majority of the first half before grabbing the lead, 18-17, on a bucket by Nickelson.  With the game even at 22 Childs rained in consecutive threes late in the half to put his team on top, then JD Muila ended the period with a tip dunk to give Indian Hills a 6-point margin going to the lockerroom.

The Warriors tried to pull away after halftime, taking three separate 9-point leads but five straight points by Samkelo Cele boosted NEO and they finally caught up at 56-all on Cele's three-point play at the 2:38 mark.  The last nine FGs the rest of the game were all 3-pointers.  

Muila had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds; Jeffries banged home four 3s for 12 points.  Williams produced a game-high 32 to pace NEO and Cele had 14.

IHCC played without leading scorer Tyon Grant-Foster who was sidelined with a leg injury.

The Warriors face another stiff test on Saturday night when they face Coffeyville (Kans.), the 23rd-ranked team in this week's NJCAA poll and a 68-60 winner over Southeastern CC, in Friday's first game.

INDIAN HILLS 77, NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA A&M 74 (OT)

INDIAN HILLS

Chris Payton 1 2-4 4, Maurice Calloo 3 0-0 8, Tyrese Nickelson 2 4-5 8, Loseni Kamara 0 0-0 0, Chris Childs 8 2-2 24, Malique Jacobs 0 1-2 1, Drake Jeffries 4 0-0 12, JD Muila 6 1-1 13, Theo Bourgeois 0 0-0 0, Ben Lyon 0 0-0 0, Samba Kane 3 1-2 7  Team 27 11-16 77

NEO

Rudi Williams 9 10-11 32, Samkelo Cele 5 3-3 14, Alvin Cannady 1 0-1 2, Jaden Graves 0 0-0 0, James Franklin Jr. 1 1-2 3, Gavin Harris 2 0-0 6, Kalil Camara 5 2-3 13, Nikita Konstantynovski 1 2-4 4  Team 24 18-24 74

Halftime score: Indian Hills 30, NEO 24; Three-point field goals: IHCC 12 (Childs 6, Jeffries 4, Calloo 2); NEO 8 (Williams 4, Harris 2, Cele 1, Camara 1)