Ottumwa -- Indian Hills and Southeastern started Saturday night tied for first place in the conference standings. And even the most optimistic IHCC fan couldn't have felt very good about the Warriors' chances to end the evening all alone in first place after the visitors jumped out to a 17-point lead with just over 13 minutes to play.
But Indian Hills (20-6, 3-1), fueled by key contributions by no fewer than five players, came all the way back to steal a 65-64 win against the BlackHawks, a victory that leaves the Warriors one game ahead of both Southeastern (18-7, 2-2) and Marshalltown with two league games to play.
SCC had the Warriors on the ropes after sophomore Paris Gulley drilled a three-pointer to put his team ahead, 48-31, with 13:17 remaining. Gulley's basket ended a 12-1 run by SCC to give them a seemingly comfortable lead.
Gary Ricks, Jr. started the IHCC comeback with a pair of free throws and freshman Riley Stuve then made a series of big plays for the Warriors. Stuve hustled to get an offensive rebound after a missed dunk attempt. He made the putback and added a free throw after he was fouled on the play.
With the Warriors behind by 12, Stuve cut the deficit to single-digits with a three-pointer. Southeastern built the lead back up to 11, but Bruno Ferreira made three-of-four free throws and Stuve nailed another three to bring the Warriors back to within five at 55-50.
An SCC turnover was followed by a Chad Dillard layup and the Warriors were behind by three. Abby Ruple scored for the BlackHawks, but five quick points -- on a 3-pointer by Ricks and two free throws by Latroy Taylor -- allowed IHCC to tie the game at 57-all with a little under five minutes to play.
After a couple of free throws by Ruple, Indian Hills tallied on a free throw by Ferreira and a three by Ricks to take their first lead of the game at 61-59.
Rinaldo Mafra's tip-in for SCC tied it at 61. Taylor then scored from in close to give Indian Hills the lead for good.
Gulley was fouled on the next possession, but made only one of two free throws to leave the Warriors up by one. After an IHCC timeout, Ricks found Dijon Farr on the left baseline and Farr's short bank shot made it a three-point game at 65-62 with just over a minute to play.
Gulley went to the line seconds later and made both attempts to cut the lead to 65-64. Indian Hills had a shot clock violation with the BlackHawks awarded the ball out of bounds with 11 seconds left.
But Ruple's contested jump shot was off the mark and the Warriors escaped with the win.
Southeastern used two separate 8-0 runs in the opening half to pull away, leading by as many as 13 points at 28-15. Gulley then scored nine points early in the second half to allow the BlackHawks to increase the advantage.
One of the keys in the IHCC rally was free throw shooting. The Warriors didn't attempt a foul shot in the first half, but made 13-of-17 in the second half.
The Warriors played most of the game without their second-leading scorer, Jerome Jones, who was injured early in the first half. Jones suffered a hip-pointer when he took a hard fall while going for a rebound and didn't return to the lineup.
Ricks led the Indian Hills scoring with 17 points. Taylor had only his third double-digit scoring game of season with 14. Farr added 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Gulley led SCC with 20.
Indian Hills has its final two regular-season road games this week, at Moberly (Mo.) on Tuesday night and Iowa Western Saturday.
INDIAN HILLS 65, SOUTHEASTERN 64
INDIAN HILLS Stephen Coles 1 0-0 2, Jerome Jones 1 0-0 2, Derrick Hill 0 0-0 0, Dijon Farr 5 0-2 12, Bruno Ferreira 0 4-6 4, Riley Stuve 3 1-1 9, Chad Dillard 2 0-0 5, Gary Ricks, Jr. 6 2-2 17, Latroy Taylor 4 6-6 14, Giovanni Smith 0 0-0 0 Team 22 13-17 65
SOUTHEASTERN Abby Ruple 4 3-5 11, Paris Gulley 6 4-6 20, Mason Leggett 3 0-1 6, Mansa Habeeb 1 2-3 4, Rinaldo Mafra 6 1-2 13, Jordan Aaron 0 0-0 0, Bida Seck 2 0-0 4, Myles Fitten 1 0-0 3, Tyrie Orosco 1 1-1 3 Team 24 11-18 64
Halftime score: Southeastern 33, Indian Hills 25; Three-point field goals: IHCC 8 (Ricks 3, Farr 2, Stuve 2, Dillard 1), SCC 5 (Gulley 4, Fitten 1)
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