Levelland, TX – The No. 5 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Basketball squad erased a 17-point deficit to rally past South Plains College (TX) on the opening night of the Texan Classic Friday. The Warriors move to 10-3 overall on the year.

The Warriors surged past the host Texans in the closing minutes of play to overcome a slow start on the road. Indian Hills scored 14 of the final 19 points of the contest over the final 2:53 of play to move knock off the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. The Warriors improve to 6-0 away from the Hellyer Center this year.

Sophomore Abdoulaye Fall (Dakar, Senegal/Cloud County) paced the Warriors with a season-high 24 points, including 13 in the opening half of play. Freshman Tayshawn Bridges (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Academy of Science) once again provided the spark off the bench for the Warriors, going for a season-high 21 points with 12 coming in the final 20 minutes of play.

Trenton Walters (Frisco, TX/Radford) hit a late three to finish the night with 11 points while Amonte Allen-Johnson (Flint, MI/Texas AM - Corpus Christi), making his first appearance in 20 days, added 11 of his own off the bench. Freshman Mason Costello (Waukee, IA/Wauke) chipped in 10 points while going 5-5 from the line for the Warriors.

The Warriors forced 21 Texan turnovers, turning South Plains' miscues into 29 points. Indian Hills committed just 10 mishaps of their own which proved to be the difference maker on Friday night. Indian Hills also used a 46-28 advantage in points in the paint.

A quick three from Costello and a bucket from Walters gave Indian Hills a quick 5-0 lead to open the night, but the Texans stormed back with a 21-3 run. The Warriors responded with a quick 7-0 run of their own, but the hosts kept their distance the rest of the half to take a 47-38 lead at halftime.

Indian Hills slowly chipped away at the deficit through the early portion of the second half, but South Plains maintained a comfortable lead. A lay-in from Allen-Johnson at the 7:26 mark brought the Warriors within four, 74-70 to aid in the monumental rally. Trailing 85-82, the Warriors converted four consecutive free throws before Walters buried a deep three for a game-changing  7-0 run. Indian Hills forced a turnover and a missed three-point shot in the closing minute of action to complete the comeback.

Friday's contest saw a similar storyline from a memorable matchup between the two junior college blue blood programs from 2014 in Ottumwa. Trailing by 22 at halftime in that matchup, the Warriors surged back for a thrilling 99-98 win at the Hellyer Center.

With the win, the Warriors move to 6-2 all-time vs. South Plains.

Indian Hills is back in action Saturday afternoon with another high-level matchup against No. 18 nationally ranked Frank Phillips College (TX) at 12:00 PM.

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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