During the opening possession of Haskell Indian Nations University’s men’s basketball game Saturday, York College senior guard Kenneth Williams had an ill-advised jumper swatted out of bounds.

He quickly was pulled from the game and chewed out by York coach Marcus Hicks.

Apparently he got the message. Williams scored 31 points in York’s 73-63 victory over the Fightin’ Indians (2-21 overall, 1-5 Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference).

The loss also was the Indians’ second at home in as many days, following Friday’s 73-63 setback against Bellevue.

“It was the same for them,” HINU coach Jamie Morrison said of York also playing Friday and Saturday. “They were on the road, and we were at home, getting to sleep in our own beds. We were battling ourselves most of the game, I think. We played well enough to be in it.”

Trailing 24-22 late in the first half, Haskell provided the game’s first major momentum swing. Junior guard Brandon Stevens scored on two hard-nosed layups to give the Indians the lead, then he threw a perfect lob pass that was hammered home by junior forward Topah Spoonhunter.

The Indians led 28-26 at the half, but Williams gave the Panthers the lead for good within minutes of the second frame. He scored York’s first eight points of the second half, including a layup after stealing an inbounds pass.

“We were just flat,” Morrison said. “It seemed like there was a lid on the basket for most of the game for us. And, in the second half, they just outhustled us.”

The Indians made small surges in the second half, keyed by four three-pointers by sophomore guard Jazz Parker. But HINU had no answers for Williams’ 12-of-14 performance from the free-throw line.

Parker and senior guard Corey Ladson led the Indians with 14 points apiece.

“It was bad execution on our part,” Ladson said.

“We played a pretty tough game last night, and I thought we’d come out tonight with the same intensity, but it just seemed like some of our guys were kind of slow.”

York 68, Haskell women 51

The Haskell women’s squad’s fate was sealed early. York raced to a 16-6 lead after hitting its first four three-point attempts.

After a victory Friday night against College of St. Mary, the second-place team in the MCAC, the Indians were picked apart by the Panthers.

“I think we were a little tired today. We got down early, and just couldn’t recover,” HINU coach Phil Homeratha said. “We wanted to get them up and down the floor, but we could never get them to where we wanted to be.”