Ottumwa, IA – No. 1 Indian Hills Men's Basketball used a 33-point second half advantage to defeat Lake Region State College (ND) 89-48 at the Hellyer Center on the opening night of the Hy-Vee Classic. The Warriors move to 14-0 overall on the year.
Sophomore RJ Ogom (Chicago, IL/Fort Wayne), making his first start of the season, led the Warriors with a season-high 15 points after going 5-6 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range. Sophomore Don McHenry (Milwaukee, WI/Hawaii-Hilo) came off the bench to score 14 points while Kiran Oliver (Chicago, IL/New Mexico State) added 12 points. Truth Harris (Mount Vernon, NY/Pensacola) chipped in 10 points off the bench.
Hall ➡️ Oliver
— GoHillsTV (@GoHillsTv) December 10, 2022
For a slam in, scoring 2 for the Warriors! With just under 5 minutes remaining, Warriors continue to lead 78-42! pic.twitter.com/unme5lA4Oa
Leading by eight at halftime, the Warriors shot 60 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes of action to run away for the team's second margin of victory of at least 40 points this year. Indian Hills forced a season-high 27 turnovers, including 17 in the first 11 minutes of play at the Hellyer Center on Friday. Indian Hills was bale to convert 30 points off the Royals' miscues in the win.
The Warriors saw the visiting team take an early 8-7 lead as the home team looked to find its rhythm. Oliver came off the bench to provide a spark and connected on his first three-point shot at the 12:46 mark to give the Warriors a 16-10 advantage. Eddiean Tirado's (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Miami Triple Threat) three with 6:16 to play in the opening half gave Indian Hills its first double-digit lead of the night. A late push from the Royals saw the lead dwindle to eight, 33-25 at the halftime break.
The Warriors came out in the second half firing on all cylinders, using a 25-8 run to pull away midway through the second half. Ogom scored 10 of his 15 points in the final 10 minutes while his back-to-back three-point shots pushed the lead to 75-40. The top-ranked team in the nation cruised down the stretch to pick up the victory.
The Warriors connected on 11 threes in the win, the eighth time this season the team has hit double-figures from beyond the arc. Indian Hills also shot 16-19 (84.2) from the free throw line, the third time the Warriors have shot at least 84 percent from the line in the last four contests.
Indian Hills hosts the final day of the Hy-Vee Classic on Saturday at the Hellyer Center and will take on Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College at 7:00 PM. The Norsemen held off Northeast Community College (NE) in a thriller in the opening game of the Hy-Vee Classic Friday, 98-95. Northeast and Lake Region State will play at 4:30 PM on Saturday.
WARRIORS ROLL! Top-ranked @ihccbasketball took an 89-48 victory over visiting Lake Region State (ND) in the opener of the Hy-Vee Classic tonight at the Hellyer Center. IHCC faces @NEOMensBball tomorrow night at 7 p.m. to wrap up the weekend.#WeAreWarriors #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/p1QktiysgZ
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) December 10, 2022
