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.
Purchase tickets in advance: Indian Hills vs. Kankakee
NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW
Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Basketball squad all year long through a number of ways:
- X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCAthletics | @IHCCBasketball
- Facebook: Indian Hills Athletics | Indian Hills Basketball
- Instagram: @IHCCAthletics | @IHCCBasketball
- Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
- Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
- Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Men's Basketball: Indian Hills Men's Basketball Record Book
- All home games are played at Hellyer Student Life Center on the Indian Hills - Ottumwa campus
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills Men's Basketball home, away, and postseason games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
- Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device (new): Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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