Twin Falls, Idaho -- Fifteenth-rated Indian Hills dropped a decision to 13th-ranked Southern Idaho in the second game of the Warriors' two-game western trip, losing 75-69 on Saturday night. CSI used a big rebounding advantage to gain the win despite a cold-shooting night for the Golden Eagles.
Indian Hills coach Hank Plona couldn't argue with his squad's defensive effort -- the Warriors holding the Golden Eagles to 29 percent shooting from the field and 22 percent from 3-point range. The problem for the Warriors was that they had a hard time consistently getting rebounds on CSI's 59 missed shots (they were 24-of-83 from the floor). Southern Idaho held a 70-57 advantage on the boards with 26 of their rebounds on the offensive end. They had five players with at least seven rebounds while Torrey Patton and Anthony Bratton topped IHCC with eight apiece. Malik Porter grabbed 19 caroms for CSI and matched that total with 19 points to lead their scoring. Patton, who scored 29 in Indian Hills' win against Utah State-Eastern the night before, pumped in 20 to pace the Warriors. Devontae Lane, however, was the only other Warrior in double figures with 10.
IHCC used a furious second-half comeback to take the game to the wire. After falling behind 54-38 about midway through the final period, the Warriors slowly crept back into the contest. They cut the deficit to 67-60 on two free throws by Tyon Grant-Foster with 2:11 to play. A three by Tomas Woldetensae got IHCC to within 70-67 with 35.2 seconds remaining. After a defensive stop, Woldetensae's driving layup attempt failed to drop and CSI then tallied their final five points at the line over the final 20.2 seconds.
Southern Idaho won despite making only 8-of-37 shots in the final half. After hitting just 30 percent in the first 20 minutes, the Warriors were at 40 percent over the final half, but just 35 percent for the night. A night after they made half of their 22 3-pointers in the win against USU-Eastern the Warriors managed only 4-of-24 shooting from behind the arc. The home team enjoyed a big edge at the foul line. IHCC converted 27 field goals to 24 for CSI, but the Golden Eagles made twice the number of free throws as IHCC, 22-11.
Indian Hills' last lead came after Patton hit two foul shots, making the score 13-12. Coreyoun Rushin scored to give the lead back to CSI and they eventually built the margin to 13 points by halftime. Patton and Tyler Chisom scored on consecutive possessions -- a rarity on this night -- to begin the second half to cut the Southern Idaho advantage to nine, but the Warriors didn't get that close again for over 12 minutes.
The win for CSI avenged a 96-82 loss to Indian Hills in a meeting at the Hellyer Center on Nov. 30. It was the Golden Eagles' eighth win in a row. The Warriors had a five-game winning streak stopped.
The post-Christmas road tests for IHCC continue next weekend when they play two games in West Plains, Missouri, taking on Missouri State-West Plains on Friday night and Faith Prep Academy Saturday afternoon. After that, conference play begins with a home game against Northeast (Nebraska) on Jan. 12.
SOUTHERN IDAHO 75, INDIAN HILLS 69
INDIAN HILLS (12-4)
Devontae Lane 5 0-1 10, Billy Thomas 0 0-0 0, Iziah James 3 1-2 9, Nick Wagner 0 0-0 0, Tyon Grant-Foster 1 4-7 6, Tomas Woldetensae 3 0-0 8, JD Muila 1 0-0 2, Anthony Bratton 3 0-0 6, Tyler Chisom 3 2-3 8, Torrey Patton 8 4-5 20 Team 27 11-18 69
SOUTHERN IDAHO (15-3)
Roberto Gittens 2 6-8 12, Jaxon Edelmayer 3 3-6 10, N'Keil Nelson 5 1-4 12, Malik Porter 7 5-7 19, Coreyoun Rushin 3 3-7 10, Coleman Sparling 2 0-1 4, Brayden Parker 2 3-5 7, Thomas Miles 0 0-0 0, Khalid Thomas 0 0-2 0 Team 24 22-40 75
Halftime score: CSI 40, Indian Hills 27; Three-point field goals: IHCC 4 (Woldetensae 2, James 2), CSI 5 (Gittens 2, Edelmayer 1, Nelson 1, Rushin 1)