Men's Basketball

PREVIEW: NJCAA DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

PREVIEW: NJCAA DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
Posted: Mar 13, 2026

Ottumwa, IA – The No. 2 Indian Hills Men's Basketball squad is set to host Dawson Community College (MT) for the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Men's Basketball North Central District Championship Saturday night.

DETAILS: 2026 NJCAA DI Men's Basketball North Central District Championship

#2 Indian Hills vs. Dawson

Ottumwa, IA  |  Hellyer Center

Saturday, March 14  |  7:00 PM

WATCH LIVE: GoHillsTV

LIVE STATS: Indian Hills vs. Dawson

TICKETS: Buy Online

STARTING FIVE

  • The Warriors clinched a bid to the NJCAA North Central District Championship with a win over Southeastern Community College to claim the program's 22nd all-time NJCAA Region 11 Championship.
  • Sophomore Chiang Ring has been named the ICCAC Athlete of the Week for his performance in the NJCAA Region 11 Championship game.
  • As of Friday afternoon, three teams have already punched their ticket to the NJCAA DI Men's Basketball National Championship:
    • Walters State Community College (Appalachian District) 
    • Monroe University (East District)
    • Jones College (Gulf District)
  • Dawson will be the Warriors' 11th opponent from a different state this season.
  • Head coach Cole Dewey will be taking part in his fifth NJCAA District Championship game at Indian Hills (two as a head coach, three as an assistant).

QUICK BUCKETS

  • Indian Hills is 21-10 in the month of March in the last 10 seasons.
  • The Warriors are shooting 71.9 percent from the free throw line this season, the sixth-best mark in school history.
  • Indian Hills has led or been tied at halftime in in 28 of the team's 31 games this year.
  • The Warriors are outrebounding opponents by 10.2 rebounds/game this year - the largest margin since the 2019-20 season (11.6).
  • Indian Hills boasts a 1.3 assist/turnover ratio this year, the best mark since 2017-18 (1.5).
  • Sophomore Taj Au-Duke's 157 assists this season are the most since Antonio 'Booman' Williams' 161 assists in 2017-18. 
  • The Hellyer Center ranks sixth in the nation in total attendance this year.

SERIES HISTORY

For the fifth time in the last seven seasons, Indian Hills and Dawson will square off for the automatic bid to the national tournament.

  • The two sides have only met four times in program history, with each occurring in the District title game:
    • Indian Hills 70, Dawson 60 (March 15, 2025 - Glendive, MT) 
    • Indian Hills 115, Dawson 99 (March 5, 2022 - Ottumwa, IA)
    • Dawson 68, Indian Hills 67 (April 10, 2021 - Glendive, MT)
    • Indian Hills 92, Dawson 65 (March 5, 2020 - Ottumwa, IA)
  • Indian Hills vs. Dawson History (Since 2010)

SCOUTING THE BUCS

Dawson heads to Ottumwa with a 24-8 overall record after winning the NJCAA Region 13 Championship, 67-66 over North Dakota State College of Science on March 18.

  • The Bucs have won six consecutive games by an average of 23.3 points per game.
  • Dawson's 91.0 points per game this year ranks ninth in the NJCAA with eight games of at least 100 points.
  • The Bucs are 13-8 away from its home court this year, including 8-6 in true road games.
  • Dawson ranks 141st in the NJCAA with 80.3 points per game allowed.
  • Kai Guess leads the Bucs with 13.1 points per game followed by Brandon Hymes' 12.9 points per contest.
  • Head coach Joe Peterson leads the Bucs in his 11th season at the helm with five trips to the NJCAA District Championship.
  • Dawson will be making its third trip of at least 900-miles this year - New Rochelle, NY and Yuma, AZ.

DISTRICT HISTORY

The Warriors have won 18 all-time NJCAA District Championships, including 10 since the 2011-12 season.

WARRIOR ALUM SPOTLIGHTS

As of Friday, three former Warrior student-athletes and coaches are still in contention in their respective postseason tournaments at the four-year level:

  • Jaoa Das Chagas - Alabama-Birmingham University (American Conference Championship)
  • RJ Ogom - LSU Shreveport (NAIA National Tournament)
  • Yacine Toumi - University of Hawai'i at Manoa (Big West Championship)
  • Nate Schmidt (Assistant Coach) - Iowa State University (Big 12 Championship)

WHAT'S NEXT 

A win for the Warriors will give Indian Hills the automatic bid to the upcoming NJCAA DI Men's Basketball National Championship in Hutchinson, KS. With a loss, the Warriors will await a potential at-large bid to 'The Tournament'. This year's national championship gets underway March 21.

NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW

Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Basketball squad all year long through a number of ways:

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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