Ottumwa -- Indian Hills kept its Region 11 conference record perfect and ran its current winning streak to nine games on Saturday night, but the Warriors had a much more difficult time with Northeast (Neb.) than in the earlier meeting on Jan. 16. The Warriors, who had drubbed the Hawks, 120-89, last month on Northeast's home floor, had to battle the entire 40 minutes in the return encounter before prevailing, 106-95.
The game wasn't decided until IHCC put together a late 12-4 run after Northeast had crept to within five points at 94-89 with 4 1/2 minutes to play.
Indian Hills tried to break away, taking a double-digit lead once near the end of the first half and two more times in the second half, only to see NCC get the lead back to as little as four points.
The 95 points the Hawks scored were the second-most the Warriors have given up in a game this year, topped only by the 96 scored by Southern Idaho in an overtime loss IHCC suffered in November.
Indian Hills topped 100 points for the 12th time in 25 games and ran its conference record to 5-0, one game ahead of Iowa Western in the league standings.
The game was tied six times and there were five lead changes in the opening half. Richard Amardi, one of five Warriors in double figures with 16 points, had two consecutive field goals after the score was tied at 29 and Indian Hills never trailed again.
It was tied at 42-all and IHCC then outscored the Hawks, 15-6, the rest of the first half to go ahead by nine at halftime.
The lead grew to 14 early in the second half and that was the largest lead for Indian Hills. The late charge for the Warriors started with a free throw and then Majok Deng got his only basket to make it 97-89. Jameel McKay, who scored 17, hit a pair of free throws to build the advantage to 10 and the Warriors were home free.
Dustin Hogue led Indian Hills with a season-high 24-point output. Ronald Ross added 18. Amardi's 16 points tied his season-high.
Sean McGary paced five double-figure scorers for Northeast with 23 points.
The win was the 15th straight at home this season for IHCC and their 35th in a row over the last two years. They will put those streaks on the line in a non-conference game with Three Rivers CC on Tuesday night before traveling to Council Bluffs for a showdown with Iowa Western on Saturday.
INDIAN HILLS 106, NORTHEAST 95
INDIAN HILLS
Jameel McKay 6 5-10 17, Richard Amardi 6 4-4 16, Dustin Hogue 9 4-7 24, Ronald Ross 8 0-0 18, Jelan Kendrick 7 2-6 16, Frank Williams 2 0-0 4, Ronnie Stevens 1 4-4 6, Gary Williams, Jr. 1 1-2 3, Majok Deng 1 0-0 2, Rawane Ndiaye 0 0-0 0 Team 41 20-33 106
NORTHEAST
K.J. Bluford 6 0-0 17, Khapri Alston 6 2-6 14, Kyle Kilgore 4 6-9 14, Sean Scott 5 2-2 13, Sean McGary 8 7-10 23, Jabbar Washington 1 1-2 4, Rasheed Fairley 2 0-2 4, Corey Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Blake Heppner 1 2-2 4, Oral Rahming 0 0-0 0, Bryce Williams 0 0-0 0 Team 34 20-33 95
Halftime score: Indian Hills 57, Northeast 48; Three-point field goals: IHCC 4 (Ross, Hogue 2), NCC 7 (Bluford 5; Scott, Washington 1)
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