JUCO basketball: Warriors hold off Reivers

Feb. 26—OTTUMWA — In a season so unique, it's good to have players with experience to lean on.

On Thursday night, for a brief moment, the most experienced two members of the 2021 Indian Hills men's basketball team literally leaned on each other following a key play that helped lift the eighth-ranked (NJCAA Division I) Warriors to a 76-65 win at home over Iowa Western.

Leading by five with under five minutes left, Tyrese Nickelson came up with a steal ending a possession in which the visiting Reivers were looking to pull within one possession in a game that had already featured nine ties and 13 lead changes. Nickelson took the basketball back to the other end of the court, drove through all five Iowa Western players and scored while being fouled with 4:23 left.

Chris Payton, Nickelson's two-year teammate at IHCC, was there to celebrate the effort burying his head in Nickelson's chest right near his heart. Fittingly, it was Nickelson and Payton that helped the Warriors push back the challenge of the Reivers and avoid a second straight loss at home as the sophomore teammates combined for 36 points in the contest.

"We've been in the same room for two years. That's my guy right there," Payton said of Nickelson. "No matter what happens in life, I'm going to always be there for him and I believe he'll always be there for me. I can't really describe the relationship, but that moment was a visual description of it right there."

Indian Hills improved to 9-2 on the season, one that's been unlike any in the history of the program. The Warriors bounced back after having an eight-game winning streak snapped just 48 hours earlier by DMACC, the fifth-ranked team in NJCAA Division II.

"This season feels different than any season we've ever had just because of how fast the games are coming at us and how they're all meaningful conference games," IHCC head men's basketball coach Hank Plona said. "Usually, when you're midway through a season with a month to go, it would be Feb. 1 and you'd be close to being a finished product, but we're still just a month into this season. Normally, a month into a season on Dec. 1, I would tell you we're nowhere even close to being a finished product."

The Warriors are having to learn on the fly, so to speak, and have learned this week how to deal with teams providing stiffer challenges in the second meeting of a season. After beating Iowa Western 85-49 in Council Bluffs 15 days earlier, IHCC found themselves battling for points with shots that failed to fall over a zone defense, allowing the Reivers to hang around most of the night as the Warriors carved out a slim 25-23 halftime lead thanks to a pair of free throws from Braxton Bayless with 3.7 seconds left in the first half.

"Iowa Western didn't play zone against us at all in the first game," Nickelson said. "We do shoot a lot of 3-pointers, but if teams are going to play a zone against us, they're taking a 50-50 chance. If we can attack it like we started doing in the second half, the zone won't stand a chance."

Indian Hills began to find success by driving into the zone, creating open looks that allowed the Warriors to shoot over 50 percent from the field (18-32) in the second half. Still, Iowa Western (5-6) didn't go away taking the lead with 10:39 left on a go-ahead jumper by Kaeden Lawary.

The Warriors finally put together enough of a scoring run to take the lead for good, scoring eight straight points in a 74-second span. Taj Anderson put IHCC ahead for good with a step-back 3-pointer before Tyem Freeman added five points, hitting an open 3-pointer from the top of the key before collecting an offensive rebound and scoring inside with 8:58 left, giving the Warriors a 53-46 lead.

"Was this the prettiest game we've played this year? Absolutely not, but I do think we made the plays that helped kick us into another gear," Plona said. "I think we consistently did what we needed to do in order to win."

Nickelson led IHCC with 21 points, scoring 10 of the final 12 points in the game for the Warriors, while Payton added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Anderson added 12 points, Freeman scored 11 and Bayless poured in 10 points while matching Curtis Jones with five assists.

DeWayne Vass led Iowa Western with 16 points and five assists in the loss. Dhashon Dyson added his own double-double for the Reivers with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Elijah Bishop added 12 points.

Indian Hills heads to Nebraska on Saturday to face Northeast Community College, the fourth game in eight days for the Warriors. Tip-off time in Norfolk is set for 3 p.m.

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.