Mesa, AZ – No. 8 Indian Hills Men's Basketball scored a convincing 88-63 victory over Mesa Community College (AZ) to claim third place at the 2021 Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout on Wednesday night. The Warriors improve to 13-4 overall on the year.
One night removed from a hard-fought defeat to top-ranked Salt Lake Community College (UT) in the semifinal round, the Warriors ran away from the tournament host Thunderbirds to claim third overall in the eight-team field. After leading by five at the halftime intermission, the Warriors outscored Mesa 40-20 in the final 20 minutes to pick up its second win in three days in Arizona.
Sophomore Isaiah Marin (Phoenix, AZ/New Mexico), who grew up less than an hour away from the Mesa campus, was named to the All-Tournament team after a strong finish to the tournament. Marin poured in a team-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Wednesday's win. The guard finished the three-day stint averaging 10.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 71.4 percent from the floor.
Freshman Eddiean Tirado (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat) scored 13 while connecting on three three-point shots for the Warriors. Ahren Freeman (Jacksonville, FL/New Orleans) came off the bench to chip in 10 points on 5-5 shooting to go along with five rebounds. Andre Harris (Cleveland, OH/Wright State) made an impact off the bench for Indian Hills with nine points and five rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
The Warriors shot 47.7 percent from the floor, its best effort over the course of the three-day tournament. Indian Hills also boasted its best performance of the tournament from the three-point line and the free throw stripe in Wednesday's victory.
After a primetime battle Tuesday night against No. 1 Salt Lake where the Warriors fell 76-73, Indian Hills opened up Wednesday with a tightly contested matchup against the tournament host. Mesa opened up with the early lead before a Davin Zeigler (Cleveland, OH/Bowling Green) dunk tied the game at 13. The Warriors quickly pulled away as Adetokunbo Bakare (Newark, NJ/NJIT) drained a three at the 11:36 mark for a 24-15 edge. Bakare finished the first half with a team-high eight points as the Warriors went into the break with a 48-43 advantage.
A layup from Marin at the 12:58 mark of the second half gave Indian Hills a double-digit lead and never looked back the rest of the way. A steal and fast break bucket for Marin with under five to play gave the Warriors a 78-59 lead and continued to apply the pressure down the stretch. Marin scored 10 of his team-high 17 in the second half to carry the Warriors to victory.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 5-1 all-time at the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout. Indian Hills won the 2017 championship with a 3-0 record and finished the 2021 version 2-1 after an opening round victory over New Mexico Junior College.
Indian Hills is back in action Jan. 5 at the Hellyer Center as the Warriors welcome Kirkwood Community College to Ottumwa for a 7:00 PM matchup.
The Phoenix native named to the Fiesta Bowl All-Tournament Team��
— Indian Hills Basketball (@ihccbasketball) December 30, 2021
Isaiah Marin ➡️ 10.6 PPG / 71.4 FG% / 6.7 RPG#WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/4TGEWllx5d