TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods rallied from 19 down cutting the Northwest Missouri lead to two in the second half but could not get over the hump in a 62-56 loss to the Bearcats. The Ichabods will return to action next Saturday hosting Emporia State in the first edition of the Turnpike Tussle.

After the Ichabods scored the first two points of the game on a jumper by Jeremy Lickteig, the Bearcats (11-5, 8-3 MIAA) would go on a 26-5 run over the next 10:55 of the first half takking a 26-7 lead with 8:23 to play in the first half. From that point on, Washburn (10-6, 6-5 MIAA) regrouped with a 14-5 run of its own capped by a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Radall Smith cutting the Bearcat lead to 10 at 31-21 at the break.  In the first half, the Bearcats shot 50 percent from the field hitting 13 of 26 shots while Washburn was limited to 8 of 25 shooting. 

Washburn chipped into the Bearcat lead in the second half cutting the Northwest lead down to four on a 3-pointer by Javion Blake with 13:53 to play in the game and then down to two at 41-39 with 9:31 to go in the game with a 3-pointer by Smith. But the Bearcats came back with a 15-3 run over the next 6:18 hitting 6 of 9 shots compared to 1 of 7 shooting for the Ichabods pushing the lead back to 14 at 56-42 with 3:13 to play.

Smith scored the next four points on a pair of free throws and a jumper trimming the margin back to 10 with 1:57 to play. The Bearcats hit only 6 of 17 free throws the final 1:54 of the game and after layups by Smith and Andy Wilson followed by a Wilson 3-pointer with 28 seconds left the Ichabods cut the lead to seven with 28 seconds to play. After another Bearcat free throw, Cameron Wiggins hit a 3-pointer cutting the margin to five with 17 seconds to play, but would not get any closer as the Bearcats closed out the win.

Smith led the Ichabods with 22 points hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers in the game and Blake finished with 10. Brady Skeens finished with 13 rebounds and two blocks scoring three points. Anthony Woods led the Bearcats with 16 points and Conner Crooker scored 15.

Washburn finished 21 fo 60 from the field while Northwest was 23 of 49 for a 47 percent average. The Ichabods attempted only nine free throws hitting nine compared to 12 of 28 attempts for the Bearcats from the free throw line. The Ichabods were also outrebounded 41 to 31 in the game as 10 offensive rebounds led to 12 second chance points for the Bearcats.