The IU Southeast men's basketball team defeated IU Kokomo, 68-60, to win the 2022-23 River States Conference Championship on Tuesday night.
Jocobi Hendricks (6'0''-PG) had 19 points, six rebounds and four steals in the win.
Christian Stewart (6'7''-F) had 18 points and nine rebounds as another key IU Southeast performer.
The Grenadiers shut down the Cougars offense in the opening minutes and held IU Kokomo to single-digit scoring until the 12:22 mark of the half when
Zach Rinehart (6'7''-F) hit a three to cut the lead to 17-10.
IU Southeast forced 10 turnovers in the first half, which led to 14 Grenadier points.
Christian Stewart made a layup, and after a rebound and great outlet pass by
Anthony Wales Jr. (6'0''-PG) Jr.,
JJ Reed (6'6''-F) laid it in to give the Grenadiers a 21-10 lead with 11:07 left in the half.
But the Cougars answered with a 15-4 run to tie the game.
Jocobi Hendricks made two free throws to put the Grenadiers in front 34-33, but
Julien Hunter (6'4''-F) scored with 35 seconds left to put the Cougars in front 35-34 at halftime.
After a slow start, IU Kokomo finished the half shooting 51 percent from the field.
Jocobi Hendricks was the offensive spark for the Grenadiers. He led IU Southeast with 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range and also had four steals.
In the second half,
Hunter Jackson (5'11''-PG) hit two free-throws to extend the IU Kokomo lead to 45-38 with 15:56 to play. The Cougars kept the Grenadiers at arm's length as the Grenadiers tried to chip away.
Ty Wills (6'3''-F) hit two free-throws to pad IU Kokomo lead to 50-45 with 12:45 left.
Then the Grenadiers used a 17-2 run to pull away for good.
Jocobi Hendricks tied the game with a jumper and then a three-point play to put the Grenadiers in front 55-52.
Christian Stewart completed a three-point play to push the lead to six, and consecutive jumpers by Hendricks extended the IU Southeast lead to 62-52 with 5:42 to play.
The Cougars chipped away at the lead but IU Southeast had an answer.
Christian Stewart got a tough layup to go to extend the lead to 64-55 with two minutes to play. A three-pointer by
Xavier Hines (6'3''-F) cut the lead to 66-60 but Hendricks hit two free-throws and Wales grabbed the last rebound of the night to secure the RSC Tournament title.
IU Southeast held IU Kokomo to just 5-for-18 shooting in the second half.
Xavier Hines had 11 points and three 3-pointers to lead IU Kokomo. He made a trey to give the Cougars a chance at 66-60, but it was too late. Noah Harris had 10 points off the Cougars bench.
Courtesy of riverstatesconference.com
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Joquarius Valrie (6'5''-F) of Point Park
Miki Tadic (6'3''-G) of Rio Grande
Braam Hein (6'3''-F) of Rio Grande
Jagshaanbir Jhawar (7'1''-C-2000) of Point Park
Saliou Diop (6'10''-C) of WVU Tech
