Ottumwa -- In a battle for sole possession of first place in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference standings, Indian Hills got 25 points from Ivan Aurrecoechea and 23 from Shane Gatling and knocked off Iowa Western, 84-72, at the Hellyer Center on Saturday night. Each team entered the night with 3-0 conference marks and now, halfway through the league schedule, Indian Hills owns a one-game lead in their quest for a 10th straight conference regular season title.
IHCC (23-0, 4-0) never trailed and stretched a three-point halftime lead to as many as 17 with their leading scorers, Aurrecoechea and Gatling, combining for the first 13 points of the second half.
Aurrecoechea gave Warrior fans -- and coaches and teammates -- a scare when he crashed to the floor holding his left ankle after a rebound battle with 13:22 to play in the second half. But he returned to action about three minutes later and, although hobbled, put the finishing touches on a 25-point, 15-rebound night, his 13th double-double of the year.
Indian Hills had six field goals from six different players in taking an early 14-9 lead. Iowa Western (19-4, 3-1) came back to tie the score four times before a 7-0 run by IHCC. Aurrecoechea started the spurt with a bucket and ended it with a free throw. In between, Devontae Lane scored his only points on back-to-back transition hoops, a layup and jump shot.
Iowa Western was down a point with the seconds ticking down in the opening half when the Warriors' Antonio "Booman" Williams threw down a vicious dunk to make it a three-point spread at the half.
The Reivers opened the final half with a field goal to get to within 34-33. That's when Aurrecoechea and Gatling took over for Indian Hills. A Gatling 3-pointer and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Aurrecoechea were part of a 15-4 IHCC run.
The lead was 10 when Aurrecoechea exited with his injury, but the Reivers couldn't take advantage and never got closer than seven points after that.
Shadeed Shabazz came off the bench to lead IWCC with 22 points.
Iowa Western outrebounded IHCC, 39-30, the first time this season the Warriors lost the board battle, but 22 Reivers' turnovers hurt their cause.
Each team made 40 percent of its field goal tries in the first 20 minutes and improved after that. The Warriors wound up shooting 58 percent in the second half and Iowa Western 50 percent.
The game was the first of four in a row at home for the second-ranked Warriors. They will host Southeastern CC on Wednesday and Illinois Valley on Saturday.
INDIAN HILLS 84, IOWA WESTERN 72
INDIAN HILLS
Ivan Aurrecoechea 10 5-7 25, Jamel Allen 0 0-1 0, Antonio Williams 3 2-2 8, Tomas Woldetensae 1 0-0 2, Shane Gatling 6 9-10 23, Devontae Lane 2 0-0 4, Corey Manigault 1 3-4 5, Rob Montgomery 4 3-4 11, James Jean-Marie 2 2-2 6 Team 29 24-30 84
IOWA WESTERN
Jevon Smith 3 5-6 13, Isaiah Wade 2 0-0 4, Decardo Day 5 1-1 12, Shadeed Shabazz 10 1-2 22, Adalberto Diaz 1 1-1 3, Shaun Doss 4 0-2 10, Rhyss Lewis 2 0-0 4, Emmanuel Ugboh 2 0-0 4 Team 29 8-12 72
Halftime score: Indian Hills 34, Iowa Western 31; Three-point field goals: IHCC 2 (Gatling 2), IWCC 6 (Smith 2, Doss 2, Day 1, Shabazz 1)