#25 IU East beats #19 WVU Tech in KIAC Game of the Week

12/9/2015 12:00:00 AM

(By Franklin Crist -- IU East)

RUSHVILLE, Ind. – Coming home is fun, and ultimately so is winning, and that's just what Rushville's very own Nate Niehoff (Rushville, Ind./Rushville Consolidated High School) did as No. 25 IU East played host to No. 19 WVU Tech on Tuesday (Dec. 8) in the KIAC Basketball Game of the Week.

The Red Wolves were able to pull away late in the contest and grind out an 88-79 victory at Rushville Consolidated High School. It was a closely contested, physical ballgame. IU East rarely trailed, but also never led by more than seven before blowing the game open late in the second half.

"I never expected to do this again," said Niehoff, a 2015 Rushville graduate. "Just being able to come back here, and do this again was cool in front my friends and family."

An elated crowd erupted as Niehoff came in off the bench early on in the first half and perhaps fueled the Red Wolves' fire as they battled a physical Golden Bear unit.

"We came in and played tonight like Coach has been telling us we need to," Niehoff said. "This was a big win tonight, not just because of the rankings in the nation, but for the conference."

Niehoff would pull down three rebounds in his homecoming outing in just less than three minutes of play.

"They were a good team," Niehoff said of the Golden Bears. "They played hard and each possession felt like it was for the game. Probably one of the most physical games all year we played. We needed this one to get us going for conference time."

IU East would follow in the footsteps of the hot-shooting Red Wolf women's team that played in the first of two games on the night in Memorial Gym. IU East shot 50 percent from the floor in addition to 45 percent from behind the 3-point line in the men's game. The hot shooting would make up for the loss IU East suffered on the boards, getting bested by 12 in that category.

"We got the ball into the middle which opened up shooters on the outside," Niehoff said. "Our passing was pretty good, and we got real good looks which we were able to score on from inside and outside both."

IU East is now 8-0 when shooting better than 43 percent from the floor.

"I think our confidence is pretty high right now," Niehoff said. "We lost to some pretty good teams early on in the year, but since we beat (No. 3) Davenport and now WVU Tech, I think we are going to be fine now. We've just been going to work every day and putting in the time, and it's now starting to pay off."

IU East (8-4, 2-0) chalks up its second straight win in conference play. Senior guard Huston Clark (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo High School) led IU East with 26 points.

Ryan Atkins scored 31 for WVU Tech (7-4, 1-1).

IU East will take a break for finals week before returning to action Dec. 15 at Saint Xavier University. WVU Tech will host Bethel and Cumberlands for the Baisi Classic Dec. 12-13.

About the KIAC Basketball Game of the Week:
The KIAC Basketball Game of the Week will be selected on a weekly basis by the KIAC office. The Game of the Week will alternate between men's and women's basketball week by week for the pre-conference schedule and will expand to both genders if the schedule provides. Consideration for the KIAC Game of the Week choice is given to marquee matchups within or outside of the conference, especially those involving NAIA Top 25 teams.