Ottumwa, IA – The No. 11 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Basketball squad suffered a late loss to Butler Community College (KS) at the Hellyer Center on Saturday night, falling to the Grizzlies 87-86. Indian Hills drops to 1-1 on the year following the season-opening Meridian Credit Union Classic.

A late push from Butler in the closing minutes of the contest allowed the Grizzlies to battle-back down the stretch. Trailing 86-84 with 14 seconds to play, Butler's Josiah Kirkwood connected on a contested three-point shot with 0.7 seconds to play, a bucket that proved to be the eventual game-winner as Indian Hills' last ditch effort came up short.

William Beugre-Kassi (Pontoise, France/Albert Thomas) once again powered the Warriors as the sophomore led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds, both game-high totals. Sophomore Abdoulaye Fall (Dakar, Senegal/Cloud County) tallied 15 points, including 10 in the first half for the Warriors to go along with seven rebounds. As a team, Indian Hills put all 11 players that participated in the scoring column.

The Warriors took the rebounding battle with a 39-33 edge on the night while forcing 16 Butler turnovers. The Warriors turned the Grizzlies' miscues into 15 points while holding a 36-28 advantage in the paint.

Indian Hills connected on 45.2 percent of its shots while shooting 79.3 percent from the free throw line.

In a game that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties, Butler took the early lead with an 8-2 advantage from the opening tip. The Warriors took their first lead of the night at the 10:45 mark of the first half as Jamal Entezami (Berlin, Germany/Hermann-Ehlers Gymnasium) threw down a dunk in the lane to give Indian Hills a 20-19 edge. The two sides traded blows before Indian Hills put together an 19-2 run late in the frame and eventually took a 44-42 lead into the halftime intermission.

The Warriors maintained the lead through the early portions of the opening half and took its largest lead of the night, 63-51 at the 12:38 mark. The Grizzlies clawed their way back to regain the lead as both squads stayed within striking distance.

All square at 84 with 20 seconds to play, Amonte Allen-Johnson (Flint, MI/Texas A&M - Corpus Christi) pulled up from the free throw line to connect on a basket and give Indian Hills an 86-84 lead with 14 seconds to play. The Grizzlies raced the length of the court before Kirkwood pulled up from in front of the Butler bench for the go-ahead basket.

Allen-Johnson added nine points in the loss while Quinton Perkins II (Dallas, TX/Tarleton State) and Tayshawn Bridges (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Academy of Science) each chipped in seven off the bench. The Warriors saw a total of 44 points come from its reserves on Saturday night.

Kassi produced his second consecutive solid outing as the sophomore averaged 25.5 points and 9.5 rebounds through the team's first two games of the year.

The Warriors' homestand continues next weekend with the RV & Powersports Classic November 8-9 at the Hellyer Center. Indian Hills will take on Pratt Community College (KS) on Friday night and Tyler Junior College (TX) on Saturday night.

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:

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