Eldon, IA - Playing a home game in its third different location in three days, the No. 5 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Basketball closed out the Financial Partners Classic with a 77-66 win over Lake Region State College (ND) on Sunday afternoon. The Warriors close out the weekend with a 2-1 record and improve to 13-4 overall on the year.
Forced to compete at Cardinal High School in Eldon, IA due to continued weather-related issues at the Hellyer Center, the Warriors held off the Royals to pick up their second consecutive double-digit victory of the weekend. Indian Hills was led by a season-high 27 points from sophomore Abdoulaye Fall (Dakar, Senegal/Cloud County).
Freshman Mason Costello (Waukee, IA/Waukee) added 14 points and a career-high six rebounds for the Warriors. Costello filled the stat sheet for Indian Hills, adding three assists, three steals, and a block in the win. Sophomore Trenton Walters (Frisco, TX/Radford) tallied 10 points and a team-high six assists to go along with a career-best five steals.
Sophomore Jamal Entezami (Berlin, Germany/Hermann-Ehlers Gymnasium) was dominant in the frontcourt for the Warriors with a team-high nine rebounds to go along with six points.
As a team, Indian Hills forced 20 turnovers on the day, converting the Royal miscues into 22 points. The Warriors controlled the rebounding battle on Sunday with a 51-33 margin, the team's second-most rebounds in a game this season.
The Warriors led wire-to-wire on Sunday as Fall powered the Warriors early on. The sophomore connected on a three-point shot at the 10:44 mark to give Indian Hills a 17-8 advantage. Fall added a pair of buckets in the final 1:09 of the first half to give Indian Hills a 41-28 halftime advantage.
The Royals stayed within striking distance to open the second half, eventually pulling within two of the Warriors midway through the stanza. With the margin striking, Fall took over once again as the sophomore tallied nine points as part of a 13-2 run for the Warriors to pull away. Indian Hills managed to stave off the Royals down the stretch to move to 11-0 all-time vs. Lake Region State.
The Warriors will welcome a 20-day layoff for the holiday break before returning to the Hellyer Center to take on Wabash Valley Community College (IL) at 7:00 PM on January 4. The Warriors previous defeated Wabash Valley this year 93-60 in Mount Carmel, IL.