Ichabods Rally After Slow Start
The Washburn Ichabods shook off a slow start and rallied late to pick up a 75-70 win over Lincoln to remain in second place in the MIAA standings. Washburn will now turn its attention to No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods (21-5, 14-3 MIAA) trailed 67-63 with 3:26 to go in the game and the Ichabods cut it to one at 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Javion Blake with 3:09 to play. After a Lincoln free throw pushed the lead to two at 68-66, David Salach connected on a 3-pointer off a Blake assist to take the lead at 69-68 with 1:19 seconds to play.
Devyn Wilson hit two free throws after a Lincoln miss to put Washburn up 71-68 and then Tyler Geiman hit 1 of 2 free throws with 32 seconds as Washburn was up 72-68. A Will McKee steal sent Geiman back to the line again with 19 seconds to play again and hit 1 of 2 as Washburn was up 73-68. A missed 3-pointer by Lincoln was returned with two free throw misses by the Ichabods.
A layup by the Blue Tigers (16-10, 9-8 MIAA) with seven seconds left cut the lead to 73-70 and was followed by a turnover by the Ichabods. After a Blue Tiger timeout, Lincoln missed a 3-pointer and Geiman hit both free throws after grabbing the rebound and was fouled and hit both free throws with three seconds to go sealing the 75-70 win.
To start the game, the Ichabods fell behind 15-3 to start the game as the Blue Tigers led by 12 with 15:45 to play in the opening half as the Ichabods were 1 of 7 from the field. The lone bucket for Washburn was a 3-pointer by Javion Blake which game him 1,702 points moving him past Will McNeill for third all-time on the Washburn scoring chart.
The Blue Tigers led 33-27 with 3:40 to go in the first half and a 10-0 run by the Ichabods put Washburn in front 37-33 with 1:11 to go as the Blue Tigers hit their fifth 3-pointer of the frame to cut the Ichabod lead to one at 37-36 entering the locker rooms.
Wilson led the Ichabods with 18 points on 4 of 5 shooting from 3-ponters and six of 10 overall from the field. Salach and Geiman finished with 13 while Geiman added nine rebounds and five assists.
Amariontez Ivory led the Blue Tigers with a game-high 21 points.
Washburn was ranked No. 2 in the latest NCAA Central Regional Poll and Lincoln was ranked No. 8. Northwest Missouri, Washburn’s next opponent in Lee Arena on Thursday, is ranked No. 1.
Washburn finished 25 of 62 from the field hitting 40 percent from the field. The Blue Tigers were 27 of 60 for a 45 percent average. Washburn was outrebounded 40 to 29 in the game, but forced 17 Blue Tiger turnovers leading to 20 Ichabod points. Washburn also had 28 points off the bench compared to zero for the Blue Tigers.
