TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods improved to 6-0 in the MIAA and 12-3 overall with an 82-70 win over Northeastern State on Thursday in Lee Arena. Washburn will return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. when the Ichabods will host Central Oklahoma.

The game was tied at 33 at the break as Northeastern State (3-12, 0-7 MIAA) hit 7 of 15 3-pointers in the opening half to counter the Ichabods' 48 percent shooting performance from the field. Overall the RiverHawks had 13 field goals in 32 attempts for a 41 percent average.

In the second half, an Ichabod 11-4 run over a 4:12 time period turned a five-point lead into a nine-point advantage with 7:15 to go. The RiverHawks would stay within striking distance cutting the lead back down to five after a 3-pointer by Jamir Andrews, who led NSU with 17 points, with 2:14 to go. However the NSU bench was called for a technical and after four Ichabod free throws overall, Washburn was up by nine and would push the margin on to as many as 12 with under a minute to play en route to the 12-point win.

Washburn was led by Brady Skeens who scored a game-high 20 points (with 11 coming in the second half) on 8 of 9 shooting adding eight rebounds, two assists and his 199th block of his career. Javion Blake had 18 to lift his career point total to 992 and Tyas Martin with 13 and Cameron Wiggins had 10 to reach double figures.

The Ichabods shot 55 percent in the second half hitting 16 of 29 shots overall while holding the RiverHawks to 47 percent overall in the half hitting 27 of 62 shots for a 43 percent clip. NSU hit 11 3-pointers on 26 attempts overall. Washburn was 17 of 24 from the free throw line while the RiverHawks were 5 of 8 after being whistled for 20 fouls compared to 13 for the Ichabods. 

Washburn outscored the RiverHawks 42 to 18 in the paint and held an 8-0 fastbreak points advantage.