NO. 14 WARRIORS DROP STATESMEN IN RETURN TO HELLYER
November 25, 2025
Ottumwa, IA – No. 14 ranked Indian Hills Men’s Basketball returned to the Hellyer Center Tuesday night and picked up a convincing 87-54 victory over Lincoln Trail College (IL). The Warriors move to 8-1 overall on the year.
The Warriors earned their largest margin of victory on the year after outscoring the Statesmen by 20 in the second half alone. All 10 players that saw the floor on Tuesday night reached the scoring column, led by sophomore Chiang Ring’s (Minneapolis, MN/Murray State) game-high 16 points. In total, four players went four double-figures in the win.
As a team, the Warriors dished out 19 assists on 32 field goals. Indian Hills has now posted its two highest assist totals of the year in each of its last two outings. Sophomore Taj Au-Duke (Toronto, Canada/Pepperdine), the two-time reigning Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Athlete of the Week, tallied a season-high nine assists to just two turnovers while chipping in seven points for the Warriors.
Sophomore KJ LaMonte (Davenport, IA/New Mexico Highlands) added 14 points on 6-11 shooting to go along with four steals, four rebounds, a pair of assists, and a blocked shot. Fellow sophomore Mason Costello (Waukee, IA/Waukee) added 11 points while freshman Xavier Wilson (Kansas City, MO/Staley) tallied 10 points on 4-6 shooting.
n just its third all-time meeting with the Statesmen, Indian Hills jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead before the opposition battled back to take a brief lead. LaMonte entered the contest and made a pair of defensive stops along with a breakaway dunk to spark the Warriors down the stretch of the opening half. The Warriors used a 17-0 run to take a 39-26 advantage at the break.
Indian Hills continued to push to open the second frame and never looked back. A three from Costello at the 18:00 mark pushed the lead to 20 and grew to as large as 35 late in the frame.
Ring used a dominant second half with nine points and nine rebounds to finish the night with his second consecutive double-double. The sophomore now leads the ICCAC with a conference-best 6.9 rebounds per contest.
With the win, Indian Hills improves to 3-0 all-time vs. the Statesmen. Tuesday’s contest was the first meeting between the two clubs since 2008.
Indian Hills will welcome the Thanksgiving break before returning to action on December 1 for the second of six consecutive home matchups. The Warriors will host Elgin Community College (IL) at 7:00 PM December 1 before taking on John Wood Community College (IL) on December 3. The Warriors will also host the Norris Asphalt Classic December 5-6 at the Hellyer Center.
