Ottumwa -- Nick Wagner knocked down five 3-pointers in the second half and Indian Hills used his long-range marksmanship to get its 19th straight victory against a conference opponent, 97-73, over Northeast (Neb.) at the Hellyer Center on Saturday night.  The win in the league opener was also IHCC's 15th in a row in the regular season against ICCAC foes.

Wagner was part of an attack that outscored Northeast, 32-13, to begin the final half.  The Warriors drained nine threes over the final 20 minutes and 13 for the night.

The 15 points scored by Wagner were one shy of his season-high and he had four teammates join him in double figures:  Iziah James with 12, Torrey Patton 11, and Anthony Bratton and Tyler Chisom with 10 each.

When Seth Coatta hit back-to-back buckets in the first half, Northeast took their first and only lead of the game, 9-8.  Neither team scored for about four minutes after that until Tomas Woldetensae drilled a three to put the Warriors up, 11-9.  It was still a one-point game after Moses Byekwaso's three-point play got NCC to within 19-18.  Then, Bratton hit consecutive baskets inside and Indian Hills scored four more points for a nine-point advantage.

The Warriors took a double-digit lead into the lockerroom after Tajim Smith made both ends of a one-and-one just before the buzzer.

The last half began with a quick 11-3 run that ended with Wagner and Woldetensae hitting threes on two straight possessions.  After that, the Warriors steadily built the margin to as much as 36 points. 

Byekwaso led NCC with 23 points and Coatta added 17. 

IHCC faces its first conference road test on Wednesday, at Marshalltown CC.  It returns home for a non-league game with John Wood on Jan. 19. 

INDIAN HILLS 97, NORTHEAST 73

INDIAN HILLS (15-4)

Devontae Lane 2 3-4 7, Lance Singh 2 2-4 8, Billy Thomas 1 0-0 3, Iziah James 4 2-4 12, Nick Wagner 5 0-0 15, Tyon Grant-Foster 2 3-3 7, Tomas Woldetensae 3 0-0 9, Josh Nicholas 0 0-0 0, Tajim Smith 1 3-4 5, JD Muila 0 0-0 0, Anthony Bratton 5 0-0 10, Tyler Chisom 5 0-0 10, Torrey Patton 4 3-4 11  Team 34 16-23 97

NORTHEAST (9-8)

Seth Coatta 8 0-0 17, Moses Byekwaso 8 4-5 23, Emmette Page 4 2-3 11, Joel Ufele 4 1-3 9, Daniel Akuei 4 0-1 10, Ben Moxness 0 0-0 0, Luke Rollman 0 0-0 0, Junior Oscar 1 1-2 3, Caleb Rihanek 0 0-0 0  Team 29 8-14 73

Halftime score: Indian Hills 42, Northeast 31; Three-point field goals: IHCC 13 (Wagner 5, Woldetensae 3, Singh 2, James 2, Thomas 1), NCC 7 (Byekwaso 3, Akuei 2, Coatta 1, Page 1)