Too Much Arnold Drops IHCC into Tie for First

Ottumwa -- Southeastern Community College did what 15 teams before them couldn't do this season -- win a game at the Hellyer Student Life Center at Indian Hills. And when the visiting BlackHawks handed the Warriors an 81-69 defeat on Saturday night, it left the two teams tied for the top spot in the Region XI standings.

SCC's Norvell Arnold, a first-team all-region choice last year, torched the Warriors for 34 points, 19 of them coming in the second half when the BlackHawks never allowed Indian Hills to get back in the game after SCC hit their first two shots of the last half to build an 11-point lead.

Indian Hills couldn't get closer than eight points after that as the Warriors saw an eight-game winning streak come to an end and lost their first home game since SCC ended their season a year ago with an overtime win in the deciding game of the regional playoff series.

Arnold took over the game down the stretch for Southeastern, scoring 14 straight points for his team. Ten of those points came at the free throw line, where the sophomore made all 12 of his attempts in the second half and 19-of-21 for the game.

Only twice in the second half were the Warriors able to hit shots on consecutive possessions. And the home team was manhandled on the boards, getting outrebounded 44-27.

Brian Wilson gave Indian Hills an 11-8 first-half lead with a three-point play. SCC then got field goals from Arnold and Steven Baker to take a lead they would never lose. Arnold's basket started a 17-2 run for SCC. As part of that run, he also made back-to-back three-pointers. He was fouled on one of those attempts and made it a four-point play by adding the free throw.

Indian Hills fought back to within three points late in the first half, but again it was Arnold that stepped up for the BlackHawks, hitting 4-of-6 foul shots to end the half. Those were his only misses from the free-throw line in 21 tries.

Southeastern quickly expanded their six-point halftime lead on field goals by Rinaldo Mafra and Jeron Lee to begin the second half and the closest the Warriors got after that was 57-49 on two free throws by Larry Stone.

Stone led IHCC in scoring with 17 points. Dijon Farr added 15. Mafra had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the BlackHawks to complement Arnold's big game.

The field goal shooting numbers were nearly identical, 41% for SCC and 42% for IHCC. But the BlackHawks enjoyed a huge edge at the foul line where they made 26-of-31 (84%) to just 20-of-35 (57%) for Indian Hills.

The Warriors and BlackHawks are both 2-1 in the league, a game ahead of Iowa Western and Marshalltown, tied at 1-2 after MCC drubbed Iowa Western, 95-76, in the other conference game Saturday.

Indian Hills has a non-conference contest at home against Clinton CC on Tuesday night before going to Marshalltown for their next league game on Saturday.

SOUTHEASTERN 81, INDIAN HILLS 69

SOUTHEASTERN A.D. Simmons 1 2-2 4, Steven Baker 4 0-0 9, Norvell Arnold 6 19-21 34, Mason Leggett 1 2-2 4, Paris Gulley 3 0-0 7, Jeron Lee 2 0-0 5, Rinaldo Mafra 5 0-2 10, Abby Ruple 1 1-2 3, Mansa Habeeb 1 2-2 5 Team 24 26-31 81

INDIAN HILLS Dwan McMillan 2 4-6 9, Aaron Austin 3 4-5 11, Brandon Garrett 0 0-0 0, Bruno Ferreira 1 1-3 3, Chano Rashiduddin 0 0-0 0, Derrick Hill 1 1-2 3, Dijon Farr 6 1-5 15, Larry Stone 4 6-8 17, Brian Wilson 4 3-6 11, E.J. Hicks 0 0-0 0, Chad Dillard 0 0-0 0 Team 21 20-35 69

Halftime score: Southeastern 39, Indian Hills 33; Three-point field goals: SCC 7 (Arnold 3, Baker 1, Gulley 1, Lee 1, Habeeb 1), IHCC 7 (Stone 3, Farr 2, McMillan 1, Austin 1)