Ottumwa, IA – No. 12 Indian Hills Men's Basketball opened up the new year with its sixth consecutive win, dropping Highland Community College (IL) 72-64 at the Hellyer Center on Saturday night. The Warriors improve to 12-3 overall on the year.
The Warriors used a trio of double-digit scorers to lead the way as Braden Sparks (Villa Rica, GA/Mercer), William Beugre-Kassi (Pontoise, France/Albert Thomas), and David Hermes (Stockholm, Sweden/Central Pointe) each tallied 11 points in the win. In total, nine different Warriors reached the scoring column on Saturday night.
Indian Hills outrebounded the Cougars with a 43-36 advantage as Trevion LaBeaux (Waterloo, IA/Ames) pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive glass while Beugre-Kassi added a season-high eight boards and Hermes chipped in seven.
The Indian Hills bench once again sparked the Warriors with 32 reserve points, marking the team's seventh contest this season with at least 30 points from its bench.
A blazing start to Saturday's contest saw the Warriors jump all over Highland from the jump. Indian Hills connected on its four shots of the night and six of the team's first seven shots for a quick 13-4 edge. Seven different players scored on the team's first nine buckets of the night as the well-rounded attack built a double-digit lead midway through the first half. A pair of three-point shots from Hermes pushed the lead to 23 and the Warriors carried a 15-point advantage, 40-25, into the locker room.
The Cougars casually clawed back through the initial minutes of the second half and eventually pulled within single digits at the 6:23 mark. The Warriors were able to hold off the late charge from Highland, forcing a pair of turnovers in the closing minute and converting five consecutive free throws. A late dunk on the fastbreak from Kheni Briggs (Kannapolis, NC/Charleston Southern) closed out the night.
Saturday's contest marked the Warriors' final game of its nine-game homestand that saw Indian Hills go 8-1 during the stretch. Saturday's win pushed Indian Hills' overall home record to 10-1 on the year and secured the program's 38th consecutive regular season home winning record at the historic Hellyer Center.
The Warriors are now 18-3 over the last 21 seasons in the team's first game after the new year.
Indian Hills is set to hit the road for the first time in 52 days Tuesday night as the Warriors make the trip to Dixon, IL for a matchup vs. Sauk Valley Community College at 7:00 PM. GoHillsTV, the official streaming platform of Indian Hills Community College, will bring all the action live from the Skyhawk Gymnasium.
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of Indian Hills men's basketball games, both home and on the road. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- Facebook: visit www.facebook.com/gohillstv
- GoHillsTV App: Download the GoHillsTV app on your android or ios device
- Website: https://www.gohillstv.com/browse to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device (new): Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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