No. 8 Indian Hills Rallies In Second Half To Defeat Kirkwood
(from IHCC sports information)
Ottumwa, IA – A late second half surge from No. 8 Indian Hills Men’s Basketball lifted the Warriors over visiting Kirkwood Community College at the Hellyer Center on Wednesday night. Sophomore Ahren Freeman led the way with a team-high 17 points for Indian Hills.
Trailing 33-27 at halftime, the Warriors regrouped out of the break to build the momentum for a comeback. After taking a lead midway through the second frame, the Warriors burst through with an 8-0 spurt in the span of 1:06 to take a 63-54 advantage. The Warriors held off the Eagles in the closing minutes to improve to 14-4 overall on the year.
Freeman’s 17 points were a season-high as the forward netted 13 points in the second half alone to lift the Warriors. Freeman finished the night with an efficient effort, going 8-11 from the floor.
Coming off an All-Tournament performance at the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout in Mesa, AZ, sophomore guard Isaiah Marin added 15 points for the Warriors. Enoch Kalambay recorded his seventh double-digit scoring effort in the team’s last eight contests with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Darin Zeigler added a spark off the bench with 10 points.
Indian Hills forced 18 eagle turnovers as J’Vonne Hadley grabbed four steals on the night to go along with six points. The Warriors were able to convert 22 points off the Eagles’ miscues.
Entering Wednesday night’s matchup having won nine straight against Kirkwood, the Warriors held a 4-2 lead after a lay-in from Freeman at the 18:53 mark, but was the last lead the Warriors saw until the second half. Kirkwood led by as many as nine in the first half and held the Warriors to just 33.3 percent shooting through the first 20 minutes to take the six-point edge at intermission.
Freeman and Marin teamed up to score five quick points to open the second half. A bucket from Kalambay a the 16:47 mark gave the Warriors a 39-38 lead, its first advantage since the opening two minutes of play. After a back-and-forth battle, Hadley took over with a series of offensive plays and defensive stops to ignite the Warriors’ 8-0 run. Hadley and Freeman split the scoring during the stretch while Marin added four points in the closing minutes to seal the victory.
As a team, the Warriors nearly doubled their shooting effort in the second half, shooting 60.7 from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
Indian Hills opens up Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play Saturday night at the Hellyer Center as No. 17 Southeastern Community College makes the 78-mile trek on Route 34 for the nationally ranked matchup.
