Big Night by Patton Leads to Road Triumph

MCC

Twin Falls, Idaho -- Torrey Patton poured in 29 points and collected 17 rebounds -- both season-highs -- as Indian Hills returned to action after a 13-day layoff with a 100-82 blasting of Utah State-Eastern on Friday night.  The win came on the first night of the Idaho Central Credit Union Holiday Classic, hosted by Saturday's IHCC opponent, Southern Idaho.

Ten of Patton's points came in succession in a two-minute span in the first half when Indian Hills built a one-point lead to an eight-point margin.  He hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the run and Tomas Woldetensae added a three to give IHCC its first double-digit advantage.  The Warriors eventually grew the lead to 59-30 by intermission and were never seriously threatened in the second half.  The closest USU-Eastern came in the final 20 minutes was 15 points with around four minutes to play.

Indian Hills knocked down 11 threes, five of them by Woldetensae.  It was the 5th consecutive game of double-figure three-point field goals for the Warriors. 

In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, IHCC hit 8-of-10 3-point attempts in the opening period and trailed only once, 10-9.  The Eagles were held to 27 percent shooting in the first half and just 41 percent for the game.

Devontae Lane matched his season-high with 11 points for the Warriors and Tyon Grant-Foster added 10, all in the first half.

Ognjen Pantovic had a double-double for the Eagles with 21 points and 11 boards.  Blaze Nield contributed 19 points.

The win was Indian Hills' fifth straight and sets up a rematch with Southern Idaho on Saturday night.  The Warriors claimed a 96-82 victory against the Golden Eagles back on Nov. 30 at the Hellyer Center.

INDIAN HILLS 100, UTAH STATE-EASTERN 82

INDIAN HILLS (12-3)

Devontae Lane 2 6-9 11, Lance Singh 0 0-0 0, Billy Thomas 3 0-0 8, Iziah James 1 2-4 5, Nick Wagner 0 0-0 0, Tyon Grant-Foster 3 4-4 10, Tomas Woldetensae 6 1-1 18, Josh Nicholas 0 0-0 0, JD Muila 2 0-0 4, Anthony Bratton 4 0-0 8, Tyler Chisom 3 1-2 7, Torrey Patton 11 5-7 29  Team 35 19-27 100

UTAH STATE-EASTERN (11-6)

Blaze Nield 6 5-10 19, Matija Novkovic 1 1-1 3, Ognjen Pantovic 7 5-8 21, Stevan Jeremic 5 2-2 12, Chase Berry 4 1-2 9, Vojtech Ruzek 3 0-0 6, Tanner Nygren 1 0-0 3, Anthony Condie 1 0-0 2, Tyler Walker 3 0-0 7  Team 31 14-23 82

Halftime score: Indian Hills 59, USU-E 30; Three-point field goals: IHCC 11 (Woldetensae 5, Thomas 2, Patton 2, Lane 1, James 1), USU-E 6 (Nield 2, Pantovic 2, Nygren 1, Walker 1)