Last night on the Mahaska Zone Network, you heard the Oskaloosa Indians boys’ basketball team in action against the Centerville Big Reds in non-conference play. The Indians would rally for a thrilling 50-49 victory in their home opener.

Centerville took an early 8-2 lead, but Oskaloosa would tie the game early with two Spencer Tucker three-pointers. Centerville would remain in the lead throughout the first three quarters, but the lead would never get to be more than six points.

The game was fairly clean in ball-handling, as the teams combined for only 17 turnovers, but there were several fouls on both sides. The killer for Oskaloosa was that fouls they were committing were in the act of shooting, and Centerville took advantage, going 21 for 29 from the free throw line. Oskaloosa was 7 for 11 from the charity stripe.

Despite the lopsided free throw totals, the biggest free throws of the game were buried by Oskaloosa’s senior center Wade Votroubek. Votroubek was fouled in the act of shooting with 7.5 seconds remaining, and calmly hit both foul shots to give Oskaloosa just their second lead of the game at 50-49. Tucker Nunnikhoven, who had some huge minutes off the bench, played great defense on Centerville leading scorer Brett Kauzlarich, forcing him to miss a tough shot at the buzzer, giving Oskaloosa the win.

Votroubek led the Indians with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks. Jake Moore joined him in double-figures with 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Kauzlarich led all scorers with 19 points, and added 3 assists and 3 steals. Tate Felton grabbed a double-double for the Big Reds with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Both teams are now 2-1 on the season.

Oskaloosa will be back in action this Friday against Pella Christian as a part of a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader. The action begins on our airwaves with the Brown’s Shoe Fit Basketball Countdown at 5:30 PM with the girls’ game tipping at 6:15 PM on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com.