Tritons Battle with NJCAA Division I #6 Indian Hills
Ottumwa, IA - The Triton Men traveled to Ottumwa on Tuesday (11/26) for a matchup with perennial NJCAA Division I powerhouse, #6 Indian Hills, at the Hellyer Student Life Center.
Down just six at the half, Indian Hills slowly pulled away in the second half of the Warriors' 80-57 victory.
Triton Head Coach, Ryan Kirsch, was proud of the Tritons' effort. "I was really excited to schedule this game. Exited for the opportunity. It didn't go the way we wanted, but we really competed with them." said Kirsch. "We just couldn't score at a clip that was necessary for us to fight with them. They just wore us down physically. They really, really, guarded us well the second half."
Jordan Cain led the way for the Tritons with 14 points. CJ Mitchell scored 10 points with five assists. Irakli Akhalaia, Aleix Sempere Serrano, and Vice Grbic each pulled down six rebounds for the Tritons.
Jalen Wynter continued his hot hand shooting from three, going 3-of-5 with nine points. Wynter is shooting over 50% on the season and currently leads the ICCAC conference in made threes.
"I'm going to continue to challenge this team to become as good as they can by late February, early March. I have a lot of high expectations for this group and that is not going to change after a loss like this." Kirsch said. "We're going to play harder than our opponents do every night. We're going to continue to work to be a team that Fort Dodge and Iowa Central is proud of."
The Tritons are back home in Hodges Fieldhouse on Saturday, November 30th for their ICCAC conference opener vs. the Comets from Western Iowa Tech. Tip is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
Coach's Key Statistic – Tritons shot 7-13 from the free throw line to Indian Hill's 23-34.
Statistical Leaders vs. Indian Hills –
Points – Jordan Cain (14), CJ Mitchell (10), Cooper Randall (9), Jalen Wynter (9)
Rebounds – Irakli Akhalaia (6), Aleix Sempere Serrano (6), Vice Grbic (6), Jordan Cain (5)
Assists – CJ Mitchell (5)
Steals – Jordan Cain (3), CJ Mitchell (2)