Ottumwa, IA – In its highest scoring effort of the season, No. 12 Indian Hills Men's Basketball defeated visiting Lake Region State College 97-64 on the opening night of the Hy-Vee Classic. Five different Warriors reached double-figures as Indian Hills improved to 10-3 on the year.
The Warriors jumped in front from the opening tip and never looked back to pick up the team's second 30-plus point margin of victory of the year. The 97 points are the most for the Warriors since March 13 last season when Indian Hills topped Iowa Lakes Community College 101-92 at the Hellyer Center.
For the second consecutive game, freshman Enoch Kalambay (Gatineau, Canada) led all scorers with 22 points on 8-13 shooting. Fellow freshman Eddiean Tirado (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat) caught fire from three-point range, scoring 17 points on 5-9 shooting from beyond the arc. J'Vonne Hadley (St. Paul, MN/Northeastern) put together one of his most impressive outings of the year, going 6-7 from the floor to finish with 14 points overall.
Davin Zeigler (Cleveland, OH/Bowling Green) came off the bench to score 14 points while shooting 4-6 from the floor and Adetokunbo Bakare (Newark, NJ/NJIT) added 10 points in the win.
The Warriors built a 4-0 lead to open the night but saw the Royals score six in a row to take the lead. After back-to-back threes from Tirado to regain the lead, the Warriors doubled Lake Region's scoring output the rest of the first half as Indian Hills went into the locker room with a 48-24 lead at the break.
The polished shooting of the Warriors continued in the second half as Tirado knocked in a pair of threes to open the second half and increase the lead to over 30. An emphatic dunk from Hadley at the 10:27 mark gave Indian Hills a 78-43 lead. A driving lay-in from Bakare at the 6:05 mark gave Indian Hills its largest lead of the night, a 42-point advantage at 91-49 and the Warriors cruised the rest of the way.
As a team, Indian Hills contributed its best shooting night of the season with a 55.6 percent clip from the floor. The Warriors were also perfect from the free throw line, going 17-17 from the stripe while also connecting on 10 three-point shots on the night.
The defensive presence for the Warriors forced 25 Royal turnovers and won the rebounding battle with a 35-24 edge. Bakare, Zeigler, and Isaiah Marin (Phoenix, AZ/New Mexico) each grabbed four steals on the night.
Indian Hills wraps up the Hy-Vee Classic at the Hellyer Center Saturday night with a 7:00 PM matchup vs. Northeast Community College (NE). The Hawks defeated Missouri State University – West Plains in Friday's opening matchup 87-73. West Plains and Lake Region State will play in Saturday's opening contest at 4:30 PM.
For more information on the Hy-Vee Classic, visit: HY-VEE CLASSIC HOMEPAGE
