OTTUMWA, IA – In a year like this, maybe more than ever, it should be remembered that playing something as simple as a basketball game… is not something to be taken for granted.

That point clearly was not lost on No. 12-rated Indian Hills this afternoon at the Hellyer Center as they were challenged from the start to bring energy in a nearly empty building, and visiting Northeast took the brunt of the Warrior focus, falling to IHCC, 115-63.

After missing a few opportunities early, Indian Hills caught fire led by sophomore Ismael Cruz, who hit five-of-six three-pointers at one point in the first stanza, sparking the Warriors to an impressive 59-27 bulge at intermission.

"I heard Taj (Anderson) call Ismael 'the microwave' at one point," said IHCC Head Coach Hank Plona.  "When he gets hot, he gets hot fast.  'Ish' is a guy who's going to be a major part of our basketball team, and I was glad to see his hard work from the past few weeks pay off tonight."

"I told the guys to forget the scoreboard," Plona added.  "If we just take care of what we do, then after forty minutes, the score would take care of itself."

There would be no letdown after half as the Warriors followed up their 59-point first half with 56 in the second frame to post their best offensive totals of the season thus far.

"We have only 22 games this year, so we need to value each and every one of these opportunities," Plona noted.  "Every time the guys get to put on these uniforms… every time I get to coach here… it's a privilege.  We always need to put our best effort forward, and I thought we did that tonight."

Despite more than doubling their opponents' score at many junctures of the afternoon, the Warriors were scrambling for loose balls and pushing the tempo at every opportunity.  IHCC led 89-42 with ten minutes to play and hit the century mark with several minutes left in the contest.

"It was a championship-level effort," Plona added. "The score shouldn't matter.  This team has really shown some grit, some fight, some toughness and some resiliency.  It's what we've come to expect."

"Like I've said before, we're trying to focus on what we need to do.  I think we're still trying to find out our identity, and I think that we're starting to know what that looks like, and what we think that can be."

Cruz led five Warriors in double figures against Northeast with 20 points.  Tyem Freeman and Anderson were on his heels with 19 and 18 points, respectively.  Braxton Bayless had his season-high with 15 points and Levar Williams added 10.  Chris Payton and Curtis Jones each added eight points a piece for the Warriors, now winners of five straight after the season-opening stunner in Creston.

"We feel like all eleven of our guys are capable of big things for us," Plona said.  "All eleven have to contribute if we're going to make a run at a National Championship.  I thought our guys played hard, but better than that… they played smart."

The Warriors are now idle until Wednesday night when they will face another stiff road test as they travel to Council Bluffs to battle Iowa Western.  The Reivers sit at 4-2 on the season after a 82-78 win this afternoon over NIACC in Mason City.

"They are a very talented team, and when they are at their best, they are as good as anybody," Plona said of the Reivers. "I think there's some things we can do to bother them, but they have enough talent to win any game they play."

"Council Bluffs is always a very difficult place to play, but we've handled the past couple of road challenges we've faced.  We're all looking forward to going over there and seeing how we match up."

Game time Wednesday from Reiver Arena is set for 6 p.m.