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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods became the third straight eighth seed at the MIAA Postseason Tournament to knock off the No. 1 seed in the tourney as they topped Central Missouri 79-60 in the opening game of the conference postseason tournament in Municipal Auditorium. Washburn (15-13) will take on Missouri Western on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

The Ichabods led from start to finish opening up a lead of as many as 18 in the first half on two different occasions at 29-11 and 31-13  - the latter coming with 5:51 to go. The Mules, who were ranked No. 4 in the latest NABC top 25 coaches poll, could rally going on a 13-3 run over the next five minutes to trim the lead to eight at 36-24 with 51 seconds to play in the first half. A lay up by Logan Stutz with 17 seconds to play pushed the lead back to 10 as the Ichabods took a 36-26 lead into halftime.

Washburn shot 56 percent in the first half hitting 15 of 27 shots while holding Central Missouri to 11 of 31 shooting from the field. De'Andre Washington scored 11 in the first half of 4 of 6 shooting and Stutz finished with nine hitting all four of his field goal attempts.

Washburn stretched the lead out to 18 at 51-33 in the second half before the Mules would again cut the lead back to eight with 5:18 remaining in the game at 55-47 but would not get any closer as the Ichabods were 18 of 20 from the free throw line the rest of the game to close out the win.

Washington led three in double figures with 19 points while Stutz finished with 15. William McNeill scored 11 with all of his points coming in the second half.

Nate Fuqua led the Mules with 14 points.

The Ichabods won the battle on the glass 45 to 33 over the Mules including 14 coming on the offensive end. The Ichabods also hit 23 of 32 free throws hitting 72 percent while the Mules were 12 of 19 for a 23 percent average.