TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods held off a late charge by Fort Hays State picking up a 69-58 win over the Tigers in men's basketball action on Saturday night on Schendel Court at Lee Arena.

The Ichabods led 32-24 at the halftime break after holding the Tigers to 7 of 22 shooting in the first half and a 1 of 7 mark from 3-point range while the Ichabods were 11 of 29 overall hitting 5 of 11 3-point attempts as Washburn (11-12, 6-6 MIAA) took an eight-point advantage into the locker room.

In the second half, the Tigers cut the lead to three on three separate trips down the court with just over 13 minutes to play, the Ichabods responded with a 10-2 run over the next 4:12 to go up 48-37 with 9:04 to play as Ulsaker and Andy Wilson each scored five points during the spurt. The Ichabods would go on to lead by as many as 15 with 7:38 to play after a 3-pointer by Kyle Wiggins at 54-39.

The Tigers used a 15-4 run of their own over the next five minutes trimming the Ichabod lead to four at 58-54 with 3:06 to play before the Ichabods finished 9 of 10 from the free throw line over the next 2:39 finishing the game with an 11-4 run to wrap up the 11-point win.

Kyle Wiggins led the Ichabods with 20 points and Christian Ulsaker scored 16 to lead the Washburn attack. Alex North became the 23rd Ichabod to reach the 1,000-point mark hitting a free throw with 27 seconds left in the game. Kyle Wiggins joined the 1,000-club earlier this season against Central Missouri.

Achoki Moikobu led the Tigers with 13 points.

Washburn finished 20 of 49 from the field for a 41 percent average and hit 20 of 27 free throws in the game. The Tigers shot 49 percent hitting 19 of 49 attempts and each team recorded 32 rebounds. Fort Hays State outscored the Ichabods 26 to 18 in the paint.

The Ichabods will be back in action on Wednesday in the first meeting of the Turnpike Tussle when Washburn will travel to take on Emporia State at 7:30 from White Auditorium.

Christian Ulsaker after the win over Fort Hays State


Alex North after the win over Fort Hays State