Ottumwa, IA – No. 3 Indian Hills Men's Basketball picked up a 79-68 victory over Cloud County Community College on the opening night of the RV & Power Sport Classic at the Hellyer Center on Friday night. The Warriors improve to 2-0 on the year.
Indian Hills pulled away from the Thunderbirds down the stretch to pick up the win. The Warriors went 13-17 down the stretch from the free throw line, including seven consecutive makes from sophomore Truth Harris (Mount Vernon, NY/Pensacola) to close out the contest. Harris finished the night with a team-high 17 points with 14 coming the second half alone. Harris added a team-high five assists to go along with two steals.
Sophomore Don McHenry (Milwaukee, WI/Hawaii Hilo) scored all 15 of his points in the second half as the guard caught fire late, knocking down four three-point shots within a three-minute span to aid the Warriors' scoring spree in the closing minutes.
Ryan Myers (Brooklyn, NY/Iona) was an effective 3-4 from the floor to finish with 10 points. Sophomore Leeroy Odiahi (Tralee, Ireland/George Harris) came off the bench to provide a spark in the paint for the Warriors, scoring five points with six rebounds. David Jones (Sacramento, CA/Panola) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in the win.
Both the Warriors and Thunderbirds connected on 13 three-point shots Friday night, but the Warriors proved to be more effective with a 41.9 percent clip compared to Cloud County's 31.7 percent mark. Indian Hills converted 22 free throws while the Thunderbirds made just 11 shots from the charity stripe.
Cloud County held an early 5-4 lead in the opening minutes of action Friday night, but the Warriors built a 15-4 run highlighted by three three-point shots from Kiran Oliver (Chicago, IL/New Mexico State) in the opening 10 minutes. The Thunderbirds came as close as five in the first half, but Indian Hills maintained a 30-22 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.
Both sides traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second frame until the Thunderbirds hit back-to-back three-point shots to tie the game at 35-all. Indian Hills quickly regained the lead, but Cloud County stayed within striking distance. The Warriors led 49-48 with just over eight minutes to play, but an emphatic dunk from Odiahi paired with McHenry's streak ignited the home team and carried the Warriors to the victory.
Indian Hills returns to action on Saturday for the final day of the RV & Power Sport Classic at the Hellyer Center. The Warriors will take on Independence Community College at 7:00 PM. The Pirates lost to Iowa Lakes Community College 78-71 in the opening game Friday night at the Hellyer Center.
Iowa Lakes and Cloud County will square off at 4:30 PM on Saturday night.
Fans can catch all of the action live on GoHillsTV.
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WARRIORS WIN! No. 3-rated @ihccbasketball moved to 2-0 on the season tonite with a 79-68 win over Cloud County (KS) in the Warriors' opener of the RV & Power Sport Classic. Truth Harris led IHCC with 17 pts, followed by Don McHenry's 15 & 10 from Ryan Myers. #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/d6cQXx3Mjp
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) November 5, 2022
