Ottumwa -- Billy Thomas poured in 27 points and Indian Hills routed Ellsworth, 97-53, Tuesday night for the Warriors' 40th consecutive homecourt victory.  It's the second-longest Hellyer Center win streak ever, but there's a ways to go to get close to the record -- 85 straight wins accomplished over four full seasons and part of a fifth.

IHCC led early 10-9, then scored five straight points that included a 3-pointer by Lance Singh, one of 14 threes the Warriors made on the night.  Following a three by ECC's LJ Harris, Thomas took off.  He hit a 3-pointer, then converted a three-point play after Iziah James drilled a triple for Indian Hills.  But Thomas was just getting warmed up:  he made two more threes, another three-point play and scored on a putback to close out a 17-point first half.  He added two more treys and two 2-point buckets in the second half to cap his 27-point performance.

Nick Wagner, who like Thomas got untracked, especially with his long-range shooting, in the previous outing, followed up with another strong game.  Wagner drained four 3-pointers and tallied 16 points.  James added 13 and Torrey Patton 10 for the Warriors, who upped their season record to 5-1.

Thanks to Thomas's exploits, Indian Hills used a 16-0 run to take control of the game.  Ellsworth was held to a single field goal over the final seven minutes of the first half and the difference was 25 points by halftime.

Indian Hills ran off the first nine points of the second half and the lead grew to as many as 49 after Wagner ended his evening with back-to-back threes.

IHCC has made 10 or more 3-pointers in five of their first six contests this season.

The win was the 18th straight for Indian Hills over Ellsworth and the 13th in a row at home.

The Warriors go on the road this weekend to Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  They'll play 14th-rated Western Nebraska on the Cougars' home floor on Friday night and Trinidad State (Colo.) Saturday afternoon.

INDIAN HILLS 97, ELLSWORTH 53

INDIAN HILLS

Devontae Lane 1 0-0 3, Lance Singh 3 0-0 7, Billy Thomas 10 2-2 27, Iziah James 5 0-0 13, Nick Wagner 6 0-0 14, Tyon Grant-Foster 0 0-0 0, Tajim Smith 1 0-2 2, JD Muila 1 1-2 3, Anthony Bratton 2 3-5 7, Tyler Chisom 3 3-4 9, Torrey Patton 5 0-0 10  Team 37 9-15 97

ELLSWORTH

Larrion Heard 2 0-0 4, Jamal Antoine 2 0-0 4, LJ Harris 2 4-4 9, Byron Brown 1 0-0 3, Tyrese Williams 1 0-2 3, Keaton Taylor 3 1-1 7, Kevin Rewoldt 1 0-2 2, DJ Cobb 1 1-2 3, Wes Meyer 1 0-0 3, Josh Donaldson 5 2-2 15  Team 19 8-15 53

Halftime score: IHCC 47, Ellsworth 22; Three-point field goals: IHCC 14 (Thomas 5, Wagner 4, James 3, Lane 1, Singh 1), ECC 7 (Donaldson 3, Harris 1, Brown 1, Williams 1, Meyer 1)