By Kevin White (Omaha World Herald)
Council Bluffs, IA -- NJCAA #1 rated Indian Hills completed a 30-0 (8-0) regular season with a 87-72 win over #22 Iowa Western at Reiver Arena; the Reivers conclude the regular season at 24-6 (5-3).
"It says a lot to their preparation. It says a lot for their focus,'' Iowa Western coach Michael Johnette said. "To go 30-0 is a remarkable accomplishment. Every one of those gentlemen — staff and players — contributed to that. It's unfortunate we were the capper, but we gave them what we had.''
Iowa Western still has a chance to get another shot at the Warriors. The Reivers earned the second seed in the upcoming Region XI tournament. They will host third-seeded Southeastern (22-8, 4-4) in a 6:00pm* semifinal game this Wednesday (2/28/18) evening . The winner will travel to Indian Hills for the championship game this upcoming Saturday (3/3/18), providing the Warriors beat either fourth-seeded Marshalltown (19-10, 3-5) or fifth-seeded Northeast (14-16, 0-8) on Wednesday.
The Reivers trailed just 36-34 with 1:34 left in the first half on Jevon Smith's layup. But 6-foot-8 sophomore Ivan Aurrecoechea made a layup and a 15-footer in the final 35 seconds of the half, sending Indian Hills to the break with a 40-34 lead.
The Warriors added an 8-0 burst to start the second half, capped by Tomas Woldetensae's corner 3.
Suddenly it was 48-34, and Iowa Western never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
"I thought the last minute of the first half and then about the first two minutes of the second half were really critical three minutes,'' Johnette said. "They did a nice job of speeding us up and creating turnovers. We did things that aren't typical of what we do. But you have to give credit to the team that created that.''
Sophomore Shadeed Shabazz did his best to keep the Reivers in contention. The 6'2 guard out of Seattle scored a game-high 27 points, including 5 of 5 from 3-point range. Patrick Dembley added 20 points and five assists. On the boards, the Reivers were once again led by Isaiah Wade's 11 rebound effort.
Ivan Aurrecoechea led Indian Hills with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Shane Gatling added 16 points and Antonio Williams had 15 points for the nation's only remaining undefeated team.
*Note: The Region XI Semi-Final between the (2) Reivers and (3) Blackhawks at Reiver Arena is slated for 6:00pm Wednesday (2/28/18) evening, one hour earlier then regular season conference times.
