KEARNEY, Neb. – The Washburn Ichabods snapped a four-game losing streak in Kearney topping Nebraska-Kearney 87-73 on Thursday. The Ichabods will return to action on Saturday afternoon in Hays against Fort Hays State.
 
After the Lopers took a 63-62 lead with 9:07 to go in the game, the Ichabods outscored UNK 25-10 the rest of the way to sweep the regular season series with the Lopers picking up their first win in Kearney since a 72-56 win on Jan. 12, 2013.
 
The Lopers (9-12, 5-7 MIAA) scored four straight to cut the lead to three with 72-69 with 5:12 to go, but Washburn came back with 13 straight points of its own to go up 16 hitting 5 of 6 shots from the field as the Ichabods (16-5, 10-2 MIAA) recorded the 14-point win.
 
The Ichabods started out 2 of 13 from the field to start the game but would finish the half 13 of 14 only missing one shot from the field the final 11:52 of the first half as the Ichabods took a 42-35 lead into the break. The Lopers jumped out to a 15-7 lead before the Ichabods used a 17-4 run over the next 3:38 to go up 24-19. UNK tied the score at 26 with 6:16 to go in the half, but outscored the Lopers 16-9 the rest of the way taking the seven-point halftime advantage.
 
Brady Skeens recorded his 32^nd double double of his Washburn career with 28 points tying a career high adding 15 rebounds with three blocks. Randall Smith had a season-high 16 points adding seven assists moving into the Ichabod all-time top five. Javion Blake scored 11 and Issac Clark and Tyas Martin each had 10.
 
The Ichabods finished 32 of 60 from the field hitting 17 of 33 shots in the second half and hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final 20 minutes of the game going 19 of 27 overall from the charity stripe.
 
The Lopers finished 41 percent from the field going 23 of 56 while hitting 22 of 27 shots from the free throw line and was led by Ty Danielson with 25 points.
 
Washburn outrebounded UNK 40 to 27 and held a 54 to 30 advantage in points in the paint.