Ottumwa, IA – The No. 12 Indian Hills Men's Basketball team closed out the Hy-Vee Classic in style, defeating Northeast Community College 92-58 at the Hellyer Center on Saturday night. The Warriors wrapped up the classic with a 2-0 record on the weekend.
The Warriors claimed its second 30-plus point victory in as many games with its victory over the Hawks. Indian Hills topped Lake Region State College 97-64 on Friday night. The Warriors, who led by just six at halftime, outscored Northeast 55-27 over the final 20 minutes to improve to 11-3 overall on the year and win its third straight contest.
Along with its second consecutive 90-point performance, the Warriors also put five players in double-figures for the second consecutive night. Freshman Enoch Kalambay (Gatineau, Canada/Orangeville Prep) was the top scorer for the third consecutive game, scoring 17 points on 8-13 shooting. The freshman is now averaging 21.0 points per game over his last three contests.
Davin Zeigler (Cleveland, OH/Bowling Green) and Yacine Toumi (Meudon, France/Arkansas Little Rock) each came off the bench to score 12 points on the night. Zeigler added four assists while Toumi was a perfect 5-5 from the floor to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
Eddiean Tirado (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat) connected on a trio of three-point shots to finish with 10 points and Ahren Freeman (Jacksonville, FL/New Orleans) added 10 points and seven rebounds.
One night after boasting its top shooting night of the year with a 55.6 percent clip, the Warriors nearly topped that effort against Northeast, going 37-67 from the floor for a 55.2 percent mark. The Warriors also shot 12-16 from the free throw line on Saturday and finished the weekend 29-33 (87.9 percent) at the charity stripe.
The Warriors' size proved to be the difference against Northeast as Indian Hills won the points in the paint battle 62-16 while controlling the glass with a 46-29 rebounding advantage. Indian Hills turned 10 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points and scored 32 points off of 22 Northeast turnovers.
Leeroy Odiahi (Tralee, Ireland/George Harris) came off the bench to add eight points and four rebounds and Braxton Bayless (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) added nine points for the Warriors. Bayless went 3-3 at the free throw line to increase his free throw percentage to a team-leading 89.4 percent on the year.
The Warriors host one more home contest before the holiday break as Sauk Valley Community College comes to the Hellyer Center at 7:00 PM Dec. 15. The Warriors previously defeated the Skyhawks 68-54 on Nov. 27 in Dixon, IL.
WARRIORS DOWN HAWKS - @ihccbasketball moved to 10-3 tonight with a 92-58 win over @NortheastHawks in the @HyVee Classic. The Warriors will wrap up their pre-holiday portion of their schedule with a Wednesday
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) December 12, 2021
7 p.m. matchup at home vs. Sauk Valley. #WeAreHills WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/lUcEYHK1K8
