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JOPLIN, Mo. -- Washburn was outshot from the free throw line 38 to 17 as the Ichabods fell in overtime to the No. 16-ranked Missouri Southern Lions 85-79. Washburn will be back in action on Saturday against Pittsburg State in the MIAA television game of the week at 3 p.m. in Lee Arena.

To open the overtime, Reid scored on a layup and the Lions came up empty on their first possession. The Lions took a 74-73 lead with just over three minutes left. Washburn was held without a bucket and Jason Adams hit a jumper to put the Lions up 77-74 with just over two minutes left.

Kyle Wiggins was fouled on a drive and hit one cutting the lead to 77-75 with 1:55 left. A lay up by the Lions put them up four at 79-75. Washburn fouled and the Lions hit both going up six att 81-75 with 48 seconds remaining. The Lions would hit their free throws the remaining of the game to take the six-point win.

The Ichabods opened a 15-point lead in the second half on back to back 3's by Jeff Reid and a bucket by Zack Riggins ginving Washburn a 42-27 lead with 17:38 to play in the game forcing a Missouri Southern timeout.

The Lions came back to tie the score at 70 and with 54.4 seconds left, Will McNeill hit two free throws to give the Ichabods a 72-70 lead. On the Lions' next possession, Marcus Addison hit a leaner in the lane with 23 seconds left to tie the score at 72-all. After a timeout the Ichabods dribbled out the clock for McNeill to attempt at jumper at the buzzer but it fell short sending the game to overtime.

The Ichabods led 34-25 at the half after not hitting their first field goal of the game until the 16:20 mark of the half on a Bobby Chipman jumper. Washburn was cold from the field hitting only 1 of its first 10 shots. The Ichabods finished the half 13 of 33 going 12 of 23 from the field the remainder of the half. The Lions were 9 of 25.

With the score tied at 17 with eight minutes remaining in the half, Jeff Reid scored six straight points over a 93-second period to push Washburn up six and back-to-back 3-pointers by Christian Ulsaker and Kyle Wiggins propelled the Ichabods out to an eight point lead at 27-19 with just over four minutes left in the half. Wiggins hit another three with 2:52 to play to put Washburn up 11 at 32-21.

Reid led the Ichabods with a career-high 20 points on 4 of 6 shooting from 3-point range. McNeill scored 13 and Wiggins and Chipman each scored 11. Chipman recorded a double double with 11 rebounds.

The Lions finished the game 32 of 39 from the free throw line compared to the Ichabods going 15 of 17 at the charity stripe. Washburn finished the game 27 of 65 from the field while holding a 38 to 28 advantage on the glass.

Missouri Southern was led by Keane Thomann who had 22 points while going 10 of 10 from the free throw line.  



Ichabods 5th in first NCAA South Central Regional Rankings

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Washburn Ichabods were ranked No. 5 in the first NCAA South Central Regional Rankings were releasedon Wedensday afternoon. The top eight teams in the final rankings will qualify for the NCAA regional tournament March 10, 11, and 13 at a site to be determined.

The rankings considered only NCAA Division II games through Sunday.
1. Tarleton State - 16-2
2. Midwestern State - 16-2
3. Arkansas Tech - 14-3
4. Northwest Missouri - 15-3
5. Washburn - 15-6
6. Missouri Southern - 17-5
7. Central Missouri - 13-6
8. West Texas A&M - 15-6
9. Incarnate Word - 12-9
10. Fort Hays State - 12-6

The South Central Region is made up of teams from the MIAA, Lone Star Conference, Heartland Conference and Great American Conference. The winners of the MIAA, LSC and Heartland receive automatic bids to the eight-team NCAA South Central Region tournament and the remaining five seeds are filled by at-large bids based on the NCAA ranking. The newly-formed GAC does not have an automatic bid yet.