CHAMPS! WARRIORS WIN REGION 11 TITLE
For the 20th time in program history, the Indian Hills Men’s Basketball team captured the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men’s Basketball Region 11 Championship. The Warriors took down Southeastern Community College 76-68 at the Hellyer Center to claim the title.
Saturday night’s victory punched a ticket to the NJCAA North Central District Championship on March 16 for the Warriors. Indian Hills will serve as host to the automatic qualifier to the national tournament against North Dakota State College of Science at 7:00 PM in the Hellyer Center next week.
Indian Hills surged past the Blackhawks in the second half on Saturday to sweep the season series and claim the Region 11 title. The Warriors outscored Southeastern by eight in the second half and erased a six-point deficit over the final 6:34 to advance to the District championship.
The Warriors have now claimed 11 of its 20 all-time Region titles against Southeastern, including four in the last six seasons alone. Indian Hills improves to 22-20 all-time in postseason play against the Blackhawks and have now won nine of the last 11 Region championships.
Sophomore Braden Sparks (Villa Rica, GA/Mercer) starred for the Warriors on the court with a career-night, erupting for 27 points on a remarkable 8-11 effort from the floor. Sparks finished the night 3-4 from three-point range and a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line. The guard also added five rebounds and a pair of steals to lead the Warriors.
Kheni Briggs (Kannapolis, NC/Charleston Southern) and TJ Morris (Queens, NY/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) both chipped in 11 points to lead Indian Hills to its third win over the Blackhawks this season. Morris, the two-time reigning Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Athlete of the Week, also led the Warriors with eight rebounds and five assists.
Freshman Jamal Entezami (Berlin, Germany/Hermann-Ehlers Gymnasium) came off the bench to spark the Warriors with a series of impact plays. The forward finished the night 3-3 from the floor along with three rebounds.
As a team, the Warriors posted a season-best 94.4 clip from the free throw line, going 17-18, including a perfect 14-14 in the second half alone.
Indian Hills jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead as Sparks ignited the offense early. Seven different individuals reached the scoring column in the first 11:08 of play as a three from Briggs pushed the lead to double-digits, 26-16. The Blackhawks chipped away and eventually took a 33-31 advantage before a David Hermes (Stockholm, Sweden/Central Pointe) jumper at the buzzer knotted the affair at 33-all.
A quick three from Briggs kickstarted the second half for the Warriors, but it was Southeastern who pulled away early in the final frame. The Blackhawks led by as many as eight early on, but Sparks and Entezami teamed up for nine quick points to keep the Warriors within striking distance. A Davontae Hall (Chicago, IL/Hyde Park) three at the 5:03 mark gave the Warriors its first lead in more than 13 minutes and the Warriors never looked back.
Indian Hills closed out the night 13-13 at the line over the final 3:59 of play to run away with the title.
The Warriors will now turn their attention to the Wildcats of North Dakota School of Science, a team ranked No. 20 in the final national poll and own a 31-1 record on the year.
