TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a 9-0 second half spurt turning a three-point lead into a 12-point advantage en route to their ninth-straight win in an 83-69 win over Emporia State in the first edition of the Turnpike Tussle. Washburn returns to action on Thursday hosting Northeastern State in Lee Arena at 7:30 p.m.
 
Leading by three with 9:18 to play in the game, the Ichabods (11-3, 5-0 MIAA) hit 6 of 8 attempts from the free throw line and Javion Blake capped the run with one of his five 3-pointers pushing Washburn to a 12-point lead with 6:35 to go. The Hornets cut the lead to 10 with 6:32 to go, but a traditional 3-point play by Brady Skeens off an assist from Jace Williams pushed the margin back to 13 and the Hornets (7-7, 2-3 MIAA) would not get closer than 11 the rest of the way as the Ichabods stretched the lead to as many as 17 with under a minute to play.
 
The Ichabods trailed 39-38 at the break after shooting 50 percent from the field as the Hornets led by as many as eight points in the opening stanza. The Hornets also shot 50 percent from the field hitting 13 of 26 shots going 10 of 12 from the charity stripe compared to 9 of 12 for the Ichabods.
 
In the second half, Washburn held the Hornets to 32 percent shooting limiting Emporia State to 8 of 25 from the field while the Ichabods were 14 of 29. Overall the Ichabods finished 26 of 53 from the field and Emporia State was 21 of 51. Washburn turned the ball over only four times in the second half and turned eight offensive rebounds (three by Williams) into 14 second chance points.
 
Blake led the Ichabods with 22 points inching closer to 1,000 career points lifting his two-plus year total to 974 points. Blake was 8 of 14 overall and 5 of 9 from deep to tie for game-high honors with Brandon Hall from Emporia State. Skeens scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half recording a career-high with eight free throws made in the game on nine attempts. David Salach tied a season-high with 11 points while Cameron Wiggins scored 10 off the bench. Williams tied a career-high with six rebounds adding two blocks, two steals and two assists chipping in four points.