Freshman guard Jocobi Hendricks started 2020 on the right foot from a personal standpoint. The Waggener High School product had a career night last Thursday as he amassed 28 points and 11 rebounds, which could be remembered by some as “The Jocobi Hendricks Experience.”

The rest of the IU Southeast men’s basketball team was not as fortunate, as they fell to River States Conference rival West Virginia Tech 89-82 in a key conference matchup.

“No matter how I played, we lost, so we need to do better,” Hendricks said. “That was a conference game, so that was big for us, but we still lost.”

The first half was dead even, resembling a defensive duel at first as neither team could get into a rhythm offensively. Most of the Grenadier offense was generated by two players, one of which being Hendricks, who scored 19 of his career-high 28 points in the half.

The other was sophomore Anthony Wales Jr., who had eight points, including a mid-range jump shot at the buzzer to put the Grenadiers up 42-41 going into halftime.

The Golden Bears started the second half on a 20-9 run, but the Grenadiers kept it close for most of the period. Then, with 2:45 left, the Grenadiers began to falter, starting with a pair of missed Kereion Douglas free throws.

The Golden Bears then pulled away thanks to a three by Andreas Jonsson, as well as free throws from Andrew Work and Junior Arrey to seal the victory.

The defeat is the first that the Grenadiers have suffered in RSC play, now sitting at 4-1, good for second place in the RSC West standings. After the game, Brown noted the team’s effort, or apparent lack thereof, in practice as a factor in the loss.

“It started in practice, we’ve been lackadaisical in practice,” Brown said. “They were lackadaisical in the game, didn’t play hard and got pushed around. We got what we deserved tonight.”

Along with Hendricks’ career night, junior David Burton contributed 16 points and seven rebounds, while Wales Jr. and junior Jared Osborne had 13 and 11 respectively. Arrey led the way for the Golden Bears with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists.

It will not get much easier for the Grenadiers come Tuesday as they travel to IU Kokomo, where they will take on the Cougars, who are currently ranked #13 in NAIA Division II and undefeated at home. Tipoff for that game is at 7:30 p.m.

Score by Half:
WVU Tech: 41 | 48 | 89
IUS: 42 | 40 | 82

WVU Tech (9-6, 4-1 RSC): Junior Arrey 31, Juvante Hayes 13, Andreas Jonsson 9, Kevin Thomas-Griffin 8, Andrew Work 8, Darrin Martin 8, Dominik King 7, Justin Phillips 5

IUS (11-5, 4-1 RSC): Jocobi Hendricks 28, David Burton 16, Anthony Wales Jr. 13, Jared Osborne 11, Kereion Douglas 7, Antonio Rogers 4, Jaivaughn Jackson 3