NEW ALBANY, Ind. – The IU Southeast men's basketball team defeated IU Kokomo 90-83 to open RSC play.
 
The game was back-and-forth to open as the teams were tied at 20-20 halfway through the first half. With the teams tied at 31-31, IU Southeast used a 7-0 run to take a 38-31 edge.
 
IU Kokomo cut the Grenadier lead to one at 38-37, but a pair of free throws sent IU Southeast into the half with a 40-37 advantage.
 
IU Kokomo opened the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 43-40 lead. With the Cougars ahead 45-42, back-to-back threes gave the Grenadiers a 48-45 edge.
 
The teams battled for the next several minutes as the teams found themselves knotted up at 59-59. IU Kokomo then used a 6-0 run to take a 65-59 lead.
 
IU Southeast used back-to-back threes to tie the game at 65-65 with 10 minutes left. With the teams tied at 67-67, IU Southeast scored 12 straight points to take a commanding 79-67 lead.
 
The Grenadiers took an 83-69 lead with two minutes remaining. IU Kokomo responded with an 11-1 run to cut the lead to 84-80 with 44 seconds left. After two made free throws made it 86-80, a Kokomo three made it 86-83 with 30 seconds remaining.
 
IU Southeast connected on four free throws down the stretch and made a pair of key stops to secure a 90-83 win.
 
Nathaniel Hoffman led IU Southeast with a career-high 32 points, including going 8-15 from three. Trent Hinkle added 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Camden Pfeister scored 15 points and added a team-high six assists. Jordan Treat scored 11 points off the bench. Ethan Haddaway scored four points, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and blocked six shots.
 
"Good win against a really good team," IU Southeast head coach Wiley Brown said. "We have to play defense better. I'm concerned about out attention to detail. We had a good three days of practice where we were locked in on defense. Hopefully, we can get healthy and get better and tougher on defense. Back to the lab!"
 
IU Southeast moves to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in RSC play. The Grenadiers return to action on Tuesday for a road contest against Campbellsville.