TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods wrapped up a first round MIAA Tournament home game after beating Pittsburg State 63-48 on Saturday in Lee Arena. Washburn will host Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. on Monday. The Ichabods will be the No. 8 seed while the Tigers will be the No. 9 seed as the two teams split the MIAA regular season games with the Tigers taking the last game on Feb. 18 in Hays in a 87-79 win.
In a close game in which neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Washburn (15-15, 10-9 MIAA) used a 7-0 burst to take at 15-11 lead halfway through the frame before the Gorillas cut it back to a 1-point Ichabod lead at 20-19 with 5:06 left in the half. Washburn would continue to lead the rest of the half taking a 26-24 advantage into the halftime locker room. Washburn hit 9 of 28 shots in the first half while the Gorillas were 11 of 30 overall, but 0 of 8 from 3-point range while Washburn was 3 of 11 and hit three more free throws.
Coming out of the break in the second half, the Gorillas (16-11, 12-7 MIAA) scored the first six points of the half building a 30-26 lead and a 32-28 lead before a 3-pointer by
Andy Wilson cut the lead to one and the Ichabods regained the lead at 33-32 after a tip in by
David Salach. After the teams traded baskets, the score would be tied at 39 with 11:58 to play before a 12-0 run by the Ichabods over the next 4:08 put Washburn up 12 and the Gorillas would not get any closer than nine the rest of the way as the Ichabods would go on to lead by as many as 18 in the half leading to the 15 point win.
Korey Fisher and
Kyle Wiggins led a balanced Ichabod attack with 13 points and Wilson scored 12 hitting four 3-pointers.
Alex North scored eight with six rebounds.
Kevin House had nine points and a team high seven rebounds and dished our four assists.
Devon Brach scored 13 to lead Pitt State.
Washburn finished 13 of 29 in the second half en route to 39 percent from the field shooting while the Gorillas finished 37 percent overall going 20 of 54 from the field. The Ichabods finished 11 of 12 from the free throw line while Pitt State was 5 of 11 from the stripe.
Washburn's bench also outscored the Gorillas 29 to 17 and turned 15 Pitt State turnovers into 16 points.
