Box Score

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - The Ichabods gave up a six-point lead in the final three and a half minutes and then fell as Missouri Western hit a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to defeat No. 25 Washburn in the MIAA opener 78-77 Wednesday night.

Angel Santiago led the Ichabods with 21 points as five WU players reached double figures. Paul Byers added 16 and led with eight rebounds as he was 8 of 11 from the field. Darnell Kimble and Andrew Meile each had 11 points and Kyle Snyder had 10.

After eight ties and eight lead changes in the first half, the Ichabods went into the locker room down 42-41, trailing at the half for the first time this year. The Griffons built that lead to eight points at 57-49 with 13:22 left in the game before the Ichabods went on an 8-0 run to tie the score.

The Ichabods then built the lead to six 8:55 and then again at 3:24 with the score 74-68. A 3 from MWSU's Gus Moss put the Griffons within three and then Reggie Bunch's lay-up cut the lead to a point.

On MWSU's next possession Moss made a pair of free throws to give his team a one-point lead before Meile hit a 3 for a two-point WU lead with 27 seconds remaining. After trading misses the Griffons got an offensive rebound and Lonnel Johnson hit a 3 with 5.0 seconds to go in the game to give his team a 78-77 lead. Mario Scott missed a shot at the buzzer to give the Griffons the win.

Washburn shot 48 percent to break a string of three straight games shooting 50 percent or better. After a 46 percent effort in the first half, the Ichabods shot 52 percent in the second half to MWSU's 36 percent. The Griffons took advantage of 27 free throw shots, making 21 of them, while WU was 7 of 17 from the line.