Ottumwa, IA – Trailing by as many as 19 points, No. 8 Indian Hills Men's Basketball put together a late rally but fell short to No. 17 Southeastern Community College, dropping an 88-86 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) contest at the Hellyer Center.
With an 11-point lead at halftime, the visiting Blackhawks pushed its advantage to 19 with under 13 minutest to play in the contest. Southeastern maintained its double-digit lead until the 1:06 mark after a pair of Adetokunbo Bakare (Newark, NJ/NJIT) free throws brought the score to 80-72 in favor of the Blachawks. Taj Anderson (Queens, NY/Quality Education) connected on back-to-back threes in the closing seconds, but the Blackhawks prevailed in the conference tilt.
Southeastern's victory snaps a five-game winning streak by the Warriors in the historic series. Saturday night's matchup was the first ranked contest between the two clubs since 2019. Indian Hills falls to 14-5 overall while the Blackhawks improve to 17-2 on the year.
Freshman Eddiean Tirado (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat) scored a team-high 17 points after connecting on 5-8 three-point shots on the night. Anderson, playing in his first contest since Dec. 4 scored 11 points off the bench. Sophomore Braxton Bayless (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) added 14 points and a team-high seven assists. Enoch Kalamaby (Gatineau, Canada/Orangeville Prep) and J'Vonne Hadley (St. Paul, MN/Northeastern) each chipped 11 points. Bakare finished the night with 10 points.
Southeastern, playing in its first game since Dec. 11, connected on 54.5 percent of its field goals, including 8-15 (53.3 percent) three-point shots. The Blackhawks controlled the rebounding margin with a 35-25 edge on the night to leave the Hellyer Center with a victory.
Next up for Indian Hills is a trip to Triton College (IL), ranked No. 25 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Basketball poll. The two teams will square off Jan. 12 at 7:00 PM.
BLACKHAWKS DOWN WARRIORS - No. 17-rated @BlackhawksMBB fended off a furious @ihccbasketball rally in the final minutes to take an 88-86 win over the No. 8-ranked Warriors tonight at the Hellyer Center. IHCC travels to take on @MensTriton Wednesday.#WeAreHills #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/siUNC0JihT
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) January 9, 2022
