Warriors Shot Down in First Game in Arizona

Coolidge, AZ -- Indian Hills failed to hold onto a late lead and the Warriors dropped an 84-77 decision to Central Arizona College on Tuesday night.  It was the Warriors’ second loss of the season and came in the first of three contests they’ll play in Arizona this week.

Frank Williams’ field goal with just over a minute to play gave IHCC (14-2) a 77-74 lead.  But the Warriors didn’t score again as CAC (12-3) closed the game on a 10-0 run.

The Vaqueros started their run with a free throw and ended it with six straight foul shots.  Their lone field goal in the final minute was a 3-pointer by Austin Cooke that put them on top, 78-77.

Cooke was instrumental in helping Central Arizona make up a 14-point deficit in the second half.  He hit three 3s in the final half on his way to a team-high 17 points.

Jameel McKay led Indian Hills with 19 points.  His layup with 1:35 to play gave the Warriors the lead at 75-74 and Williams, who scored 14 points off the bench, extended the lead to three 30 seconds later.  But the Warriors couldn’t hold on.

After Central Arizona held a couple of early leads, Indian Hills raced away to a 14-point bulge in the first half.

Majok Deng helped IHCC gain control by scoring eight points, six on back-to-back 3s.

The Warriors owned a 54-41 advantage early in the second half, but the Vaqueros pulled within two at 58-56 about midway through the half.  Vincentas Alexsandravicius drained a trio of 3-pointers to help CAC come back.

Sparked by two straight baskets by Williams, the Warriors stemmed the tide and built the lead back to 13 at 71-58 with around six minutes to play.

Again, the hosts surged, this time with an 11-0 run in less than three minutes to cut the deficit to 71-69.

 There were two lead changes after that with Cooke’s 3-pointer with 27.2 seconds remaining giving CAC the lead for good.

Ronald Ross scored 17 points for the Warriors and hit four 3s.  He was one of three IHCC players to foul out.

The loss came in the Warriors’ first of five consecutive road games.  They’ll play two more times on the current trip, at South Mountain CC on Thursday night and Mesa CC on Saturday night.  Both games start at 8:30 Iowa time.

CENTRAL ARIZONA 84, INDIAN HILLS 77

INDIAN HILLS

Jameel McKay 8 3-6 19, Richard Amardi 2 2-4 6, Trinson White 2 0-1 5, Dustin Hogue 3 2-4 8, Ronald Ross 6 1-2 17, Frank Williams 5 3-3 14, Gary Williams, Jr. 0 0-0 0, Majok Deng 3 0-0 8, Gary Ross 0 0-0 0, Rawane Ndiaye 0 0-0 0  Team 29 11-20 77

CENTRAL ARIZONA

DesJuan Newton 6 3-5 16, Deandre Mathieu 3 8-10 14, Vincentas Aleksandravicius 4 4-6 15, Herve Aholode 6 2-8 14, LeBrent Walker 0 1-3 1, Zakarius Wells 1 0-0 2, Austin Cooke 6 0-0 17, Caleb Carter 2 1-2 5  Team 28 19-34 84

Halftime score: Indian Hills 43, Central Arizona 31; Three-point field goals: IHCC 8 (R. Ross 4; Deng 2; White, F. Williams 1); CAC 9 (Cooke 5; Aleksandravicius 3; Newton 1)