Ottumwa, IA – No. 2 Indian Hills Men's Basketball suffered its first defeat of the early season with a 77-68 loss to Butler Community College (KS) on the final night of the Reed Overhead Doors Classic at the Hellyer Center. The Warriors fall to 1-1 on the year.
Davin Zeigler (Cleveland, OH/Bowling Green) led the Warriors in scoring for the second consecutive night with 11 points off the bench. Taj Anderson (Queens, NY/Quality Education) also contributed 11 points after knocking down a pair of three-point shots. Braxton Bayless (Ankeny, IA/Ankeny) and Enoch Kalambay (Gatineau, Canada/Orangeville Prep) each added nine points in the losing effort.
The Warriors struck first on Saturday with a quick 4-0 run to open the night following a three from Andre Harris (Cleveland, OH/Wright State) but the Grizzlies responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Butler eventually built a 10-point advantage midway through the first half. The Warriors pulled back within three following an Isaiah Marin (Phoenix, AZ/New Mexico) bucket at the 10:03 mark, but never got closer as Butler went into halftime leading 37-32.
Indian Hills stayed within striking distance to open the second half and eventually took its first lead in over 25 minutes as Yacine Toumi (Meudon, France/Arkansas Little Rock) drove the lane and converted a lay-in for a 46-45 edge with 13:41 to play. Butler struck back to take the lead and fended off an Indian Hills rally down the stretch to upend the Warriors.
As a team, 11 different Warriors found the scoring column on Saturday after 10 players accomplished that same feat on Friday. The Indian Hills bench outscored Butler's reserves 52-26 and held a 24-16 edge on points in the paint.
Next up for the Warriors is a trip to Burlington, IA for the Iowa-Missouri Challenge on Nov. 12-13. Indian Hills will take on Missouri State – West Plains at 6:00 PM Friday night and Moberly Area College at 5:00 PM on Saturday.
WARRIORS UPSET - @BucoMBB took the final game of the Reed Overhead Doors Classic from No. 2-rated @ihccbasketball tonight, 77-68. The Warriors (1-1) will face @WPGrizzlies Friday night in West Burlington in the Iowa/Missouri Challenge at 6 p.m. #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/onUSqU6g7K
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) November 7, 2021
