A hot shooting night from 3-point range by the Haskell Indian Nations University men’s basketball squad earned the team its first victory under new coach Ted Juneau.

The Indians were 9-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half and finished 13-of-20 behind the arc in a 77-74 victory over Missouri Valley College on Monday at Coffin Sports Complex.

“That’s the first time we actually started hitting our 3s,” Haskell junior Ben Carrywater said. “It felt good out there. It felt good to finally get a ‘W.'”

Indians freshman Ronald Cunningham had the hottest hand in the first half, leading HINU with 14 points. Cunningham was 5-for-5 from the field, with four of the shots coming from behind the arc.

“If me or Ben could hit one, we knew that the team would follow,” Cunningham said. “I knew if I could hit one, that would boost my confidence right there. So I just felt comfortable shooting from beyond the 3-point line.”

The Indians (1-3) came out slow following halftime, however, allowing the Vikings to score six points in the first minute to tie the score at 43.

That’s when Carrywater went to work offensively. The junior forward scored 13 of the team’s first 15 points of the second half.

“I was tired of seeing us not scoring, so I just tried to take over a little bit to kind of give us a little boost. They started forcing it to me, and I started working hard,” said Carrywater, who finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Carrywater also assisted on the lay-up by senior Chad Kaler that gave HINU the three-point advantage with 12 seconds remaining in the game.

“Ben’s a great player and a great leader. He’s really everything a coach would ever want in a player,” Juneau said. “In the second half he really took it over, hitting some threes and was just a beast on the boards. He’s just a heck of a basketball player.”

Haskell 77, Missouri Valley College 74

Missouri Valley – Brandon Toliver 5 2-4 12, Boman Mullings 7 0-0 14, Caleb Moon 7 0-0 20, Craig Jones 4 0-0 8, Stefan Gardasevic 1 0-0 3, Jay Elam 3 2-2 9, Roy Giles 1 1-2 3, Demeko Nesbitt 1 0-0 2, Fernando Pelissoni 1 0-0 3. Totals 30 5-8 74.

Haskell – Ben Carrywater 11 1-2 26, Terrance Little Thunder 3 0-0 6, Ronald Cunningham 6 0-0 17, Dominic Clichee 4 1-2 12, Vince Chavez 1 0-0 2, Paul Atkinson 2 0-0 5, Chad Kaler 2 0-0 4, Collins Woody 1 0-0 2, Daelan High Wolf 1 0-0 3. Totals 31 2-4 77.

Three-pointers – MVC 9 (Moon 6, Gardasevic, Elam, Pelisonni); HINU 13 (Cunningham 5, Carrywater 3, Clichee 3, Atkinson, High Wolf). Rebounds – MVC 28, HINU 38. Turnovers – MVC 21, HINU 25.