West Burlington, IA – Freshman Eddiean Tirado (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat Prep) connected on nine three-point shots to lead No. 13 Indian Hills Men's Basketball to an 82-73 victory over No. 20 Moberly Area Community College on the final night of the Iowa-Missouri Challenge. The Warriors move to 3-1 overall on the year after going 2-0 at the weekend event.
Tirado lit up the scoreboard for the second consecutive night for the Warriors with a game-high 29 points. The freshman drained his first four three-point shots and went 5-6 in the first half. Tirado finished the night 9-17 from deep to lead the offensive attack for the Warriors.
Braxton Bayless (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) put together a career-night as the sophomore recorded a career-high 18 points in the win and tied a career-high with seven assists. Bayless finished the night 10-13 at the line and is now shooting 86.2 percent from the line this year. J'Vonne Hadley (St. Paul, MN/Northeastern) added 13 points on 5-6 shooting, including a 2-2 night from beyond the arc for the Warriors.
After picking up a win over Missouri State University-West Plains on the opening night of the Iowa-Missouri Challenge on Friday, the Warriors squared off with the 20th ranked team in the nation in Moberly Area. With the Warriors trailing 4-3, Tirado connected on his first three of the night to put Indian Hills ahead. The freshman guard added two more to extend the Warrior lead to 19-8 with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half. Two more threes from Tirado helped give the Warriors a 35-27 advantage at halftime.
Tirado picked up where he left off to open the second half with a three on his first attempt out of the locker room. The Greyhounds eventually pulled within five, 46-41, but a three-pointer followed by a three-point play from Hadley sparked the offense to regain a double-digit lead. Indian Hills maintained a lead of no less than seven the rest of the way and left Loren Walker Arena with a 2-0 record on the weekend.
As a team, Indian Hills shot 46.2 percent from three-point land, including a 53.8 clip in the first half. The Warriors have connected on at least 10 three-point field goals in three of the team's four games this season.
Tirado finished the weekend averaging 22.5 points per game while shooting 51.8 percent from three-point range. Tirado knocked down 14 three-point shots to lead the way for the Warriors.
Indian Hills returns home to host Casper College (WY) at 7:00 PM Thursday night before hosting the Bowling RV Classic at the Hellyer Center on Friday and Saturday.
WARRIORS ROLL PAST MOBERLY!
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) November 14, 2021
Freshman Eddiean Tirado lit up the scoreboard with nine three-point shots to push No. 13 @ihccbasketball past No. 20 Moberly Area on the final night of the Iowa-Missouri Challenge.#WeAreHills #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/UvwjlsBuUM