Ottumwa, IA – In a battle of the top two teams in the national rankings, No. 2 Indian Hills Men's Basketball knocked off No. 1 Northwest Florida State College in a battle of junior college heavyweights. The Warriors move to 7-0 while the Raiders drop to 6-1.
In the most anticipated matchup of the season in all of junior college hoops, the two historic programs squared off at the Hellyer Center in a non-league matchup. The Warriors earned its second win all-time in five matchups vs. the Raiders, and the first win since 2013. The victory avenges a loss last year in the national tournament to the Raiders, a win that sparked Northwest Florida State to the national championship.
Sophomore Don McHenry (Milwaukee, WI/Hawaii-Hilo) poured in a team-high 25 points for the Warriors, including 16 in the second half. McHenry's third 20-point effort of the year came on 8-12 shooting and 7-9 from the free throw line.
Eddiean Tirado (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat) went 4-5 from three-point range and 7-8 from the charity stripe to finish the night with 21 points. Enock Kalambay (Gatineau, Canada/Orangeville Prep) posted 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Warriors. Freshman Kiran Oliver (Chicago, IL/New Mexico State) sparked the Warriors early with 12 first-half points.
Kalambay takes it all the way‼️��
— GoHillsTV (@GoHillsTv) November 17, 2022
Warriors extend their lead to 16 with about 8 minutes to go! pic.twitter.com/kmnuiETNrx
In just the second-ever No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup at the Hellyer Center, Wednesday night's matchup was a high-caliber contest from the jump. The two perennial national contenders traded blows early on as Tirado's first three of the night put the Warriors ahead 11-10. The Raiders regained the lead, but neither side led by more than four in the early goings of the first half. A step-back three from Kalambay put Indian Hills back on top, 24-22 midway through the high-scoring first half.
Over the final 10 minutes of play in the first stanza, the two teams traded four leads and were tied on five separate occasions. The Warriors took a 43-42 margin into halftime after shooting 40 percent from three-point range over the first 20 minutes.
Kalambay and Tirado, a pair of sophomores that both experienced defeat to the Raiders last year, came out firing to open the second half and scored the team's first 11 points, including a pair of three's from Tirado to push Indian Hills ahead 56-46 just five minutes into the half. The Raiders pulled back within three, but a series of buckets from McHenry ignited the Warriors back into a double-digit lead.
Paired with a bevy of defensive stops, the Warrior offense exploded midway through the half and built its lead to as much as 21 following a McHenry three at the 6:03 mark to put Indian Hills ahead 86-65. The Raiders battled back and eventually brought the game into single-digits, but the Warriors went 7-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to earn the victory over the top-ranked team in the nation.
Indian Hills moves to 2-3 all-time vs. the Raiders, ending a three-game skid against the powerhouse Florida program. The win snapped a three-game losing streak against No. 1 nationally ranked opponents dating back to the 2018 season, a stretch that included a loss to Northwest Florida State in Niceville, FL in 2018.
The Warriors are back in action Friday and Saturday this week to host the Reed Overhead Doors Classic at the Hellyer Center. Indian Hills welcomes Ellsworth Community College, McCook Community College, and Missouri State University-West Plains for the two-day event.
DOWN GOES NUMBER ONE! – No. 2-rated @ihccbasketball made an emphatic case for the top billing in the @NJCAA tonight at the Hellyer Center as the Warriors blitzed top-ranked @NWFRaiders_MBB with a 65-point second half en route to a 108-99 non-conference victory. #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/MmTCEDe2z4
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) November 17, 2022
