Hill, Free Throws Rescue IHCC

Ottumwa --- Freshman Derrick Hill responded in a big way to his first collegiate start on Saturday night, scoring 27 points and hitting a pair of free throws to produce the final points in Indian Hills' 76-73 victory against visiting Moraine Valley College.

Hill's point total was only seven fewer than his season scoring output through the Warriors' first eight games. And it went a long way toward helping Indian Hills snap a three-game losing streak.

But the win didn't come easy. Indian Hills trailed 68-66 after the Cyclones' Kaleb Watts scored on a layup with two minutes to play.

Aaron Austin hit a jump shot to tie the score at 68 and Dwan McMillan then got a steal and fed Dijon Farr for a layup to put IHCC on top, 70-68 with 1:08 to play.

Austin scored on a drive to build the lead to four, but the Cyclones weren't done yet. Their leading scorer, Krys Randolph, made one of two free throws and intercepted a pass on the MVC press and scored on a layup to cut the deficit to one with 37.8 seconds to play. Randolph had 19 points to lead Moraine Valley.

McMillan was fouled with 28.5 seconds left and calmly dropped in both free throws to make it 74-71.

Again, Moraine Valley answered, this time on a layup by Khodamus Llongbey to make it a one-point game.

That's when Hill put the finishing touches on his career night with two foul shots with 7.6 seconds remaining.

Randoph had a chance to tie it with two seconds left, but his three-pointer from the corner was off the mark and the Warriors picked off the rebound and the hard-fought victory.

The Warriors had struggled at the free throw line through the first eight games, shooting under 60 percent as a team. But their free-throw shooting helped them pull out this win. IHCC was 17-of-23 from the line for 74 percent.

Moraine Valley shot out to an early 6-2 lead with Dron Walker scoring all of MVC's points. Indian Hills took its first lead on a breakaway dunk by Farr. After Walker hit a free throw to tie the score at 7-all, IHCC ran away to a 28-15 lead.

Moraine Valley answered with an 18-6 run to close the gap to one point and the game stayed close the rest of the night.

The Cyclones took a one-point lead in the final minute of the first half, but Hill made a pair of free throws to finish off an 18-point first half and give the Warriors a 38-37 lead at intermission.

Indian Hills had a six-point lead early in the second half, but again Moraine Valley stormed back and took the lead on a three-pointer by Watts. The game was tied four times after that, the final deadlock broken by Austin's second consecutive field goal with just over a minute-and-a-half to play.

Farr added 17 points to Hill's game-high total and McMillan scored 14 for the winning Warriors.

Indian Hills will play three home games next week, starting with a Wednesday night contest against New Creations Basketball Academy.

INDIAN HILLS 76, MORAINE VALLEY 73

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 4 6-6 14, Aaron Austin 2 0-0 4, Bruno Ferriera 1 0-0 2, Chano Rashiduddin 2 0-2 4, Derrick Hill 9 6-8 27, Dijon Farr 6 3-5 17, Larry Stone 0 0-0 0, Brian Wilson 1 2-2 4, Alex Vouyoukas 1 0-0 2, Chad Dillard 1 0-0 2 Team 27 17-23 76

MORAINE VALLEY Kevin Davis 2 2-2 6, Dwight McCombs 3 7-13 13, Kaleb Watts 3 0-0 7, Malcolm Holmes 1 1-2 3, Krys Randolph 6 2-4 19, Linus Ellzey 0 1-2 1, Kyler Market 1 2-4 4, Jesse McGee 0 0-0 0, Kodahmus Llongbey 4 2-3 11, Dron Walker 4 1-3 9 Team 24 18-32 73

Halftime score: Indian Hills 38, Moraine Valley 37; Three-point field goals: IHCC 5 (Hill 3, Farr 2), MVC 7 (Randolph 5, Watts 1, Llongbey 1)