DEWEY EARNS 100TH CAREER WIN, WARRIORS DROP COUGARS

January 22, 2026

Freeport, IL – No. 8 Indian Hills Men’s Basketball went on the road to secure a non-league victory Thursday night, dropping Highland Community College (IL) 85-81 at Larry Kahl Gymnasium. The Warriors improve to 19-2 overall on the year.

With the win, head coach Cole Dewey earned his 100th career victory as a head coach. Dewey has now won 46 games in two seasons at Indian Hills in addition to 45 victories at Otero Junior College (CO) and nine wins at Garden City Community College (KS).

Indian Hills has now won eight consecutive meetings with the Cougars and are 11-1 all-time vs. Highland, including 4-0 in trips to Freeport, IL.

Sophomore Taj Au-Duke (Toronto, Canada/Pepperdine) poured in a career-high 26 points with 22 of those coming in the second half alone. Sophomore Mason Costello (Waukee, IA/Waukee) knocked down five three-point shots and finished the night with 18 points. Freshman Xavier Wilson (Kansas City, MO/Staley) added a career-high 16 points to boost the offense while sophomore Ater Manyuon (Austin, MN/We Are United Prep) chipped in 12 points.

The Warriors erased an early deficit in the opening half thanks to a barrage of three-point shots from Costello. The sophomore connected on four three-point shots early on to spark the Warriors. A late three-point play from Au-Duke in the closing seconds secured a 40-37 lead at the halftime break.

Indian Hills slowly built its lead in the early stages of the second half and expanded its edge to double-digits thanks to a highlight-reel alley-oop from Au-Duke to Chiang Ring (Minneapolis, MN/Murray State). Au-Duke’s strong second half was aided by an impressive performance at the charity stripe, knocking down 13-14 free throw attempts over the final 20 minutes. Au-Duke is now shooting 83.5 percent from the free throw line this year.

The Warriors return home on January 28 to take on Kankakee Community College (IL) at 7:00 PM at the Hellyer Center.