INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - The Independence Men’s Basketball team bounced back from their loss over the weekend in a huge way, knocking off Hutchinson 88-80 on Tuesday night in their conference home opener.

It wasn’t necessarily the start the Pirates were looking for in the early minutes as the Blue Dragons jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead. It was actually the Pirates second unit who gave them a spark in the first half and began to chip into the Blue Dragon lead. It wasn’t until the three minute mark of the first half when Trashaun Combs-Pierce, in just his second game back from an offseason injury, buried back to back triples to knot the score up at 28. 

The Blue Dragons had pushed the lead all the way back to seven before Trae Lewis was fouled on a three point shot right before the halftime buzzer and promptly knocked down all three free throws as the Pirates cut the lead to four heading into the locker room.

The Pirates caught fire in the second half, especially sophomore David Wilson, who poured in all of his game high 19 points in the second frame. 

At the half way point of the second half, the Pirates had pushed their lead all the way to 12 points at 64-52. Hutchinson was able to battle back, cutting the lead all the way back to two at 72-70. The Pirates continued to attack offensively, as Wilson struck for back to back to back buckets to push the Pirate lead back to eight, as the Pirates were able to fend off a 38 point night from Hutchinson’s Bobby Cannon and maintained the lead down the stretch for the eventual eight point victory. 

It was a complete team effort from the Pirates who had a great night shooting, going 50% from both the field and three point line, while making their opportunities at the free throw line count, going 18-21, good for 86%. 

Wilson led the way with 19 points, and grabbed four rebounds, while Trae Lewis poured in four three pointers en route to his 15 point night. Lonnie Bass Jr also finished in double figures with 11, and added a team high seven rebounds. Indy got 29 crucial bench points tonight, spearheaded by Zion Dixon with nine and Sekou Kourouma with eight. Sterling Knox had a team high six assists in the win. 

The Pirates will look to stack another conference win this Saturday when they host the Pratt Beavers, set for a 4:00 pm tip-off.