TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods opened the new decade in big fashion shaking off a slow start rallying from a 15-point deficit with just under 13 minutes to go outscoring arch rival Emporia State 36-19 the rest of the game for a come from behind 80-78 win in Lee Arena on Saturday night. Jalen Lewis scored 14 of his game and career-tying-high 25 points during the final run moving the Ichabods to 7-5 on the season and 2-1 in conference play handing the Hornets their first MIAA loss of the season falling to 8-4 and 2-1 in league play.
 
The Ichabods trailed 39-31 at the break after hitting 10 of 29 shots going 1 of 12 from 3-point range while the Hornets connected on 16 of 28 shots overall jumping out to an eight-point margin at the break. The Ichabods held a 16-14 lead midway through the opening half, but 10-straight points by the Hornets pushed the lead to 24-16 and would go on to lead by as many as 10 on five different occasions.
 
Coming out of the locker rooms after the half, the Ichabods trimmed back the margin to six on a 3-pointer by Lewis with 18:19 to play and eventually cut it to five at 44-39 with 17:43 remaining and then to four after another Lewis' 3-pointer with 16:47 to play but a 13-2 run by the Hornets pushed the Ichabod deficit to 15 at 59-44 before a Jace Williams 3-point play jump started the comeback.
 
Behind Lewis' 25 points on 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range and 8 of 13 overall from the field, Geiman scored 18 points adding six rebounds and seven assists followed by Jonny Clausing's 13 points and eight rebounds. Washburn shot 65 percent in the second half from the field (17-26) and 5 of 12 from deep finishing 6 of 24 overall. The Ichabods did hit 20 of 29 free throws in the game.
 
The Ichabods scored 38 of their 80 points in the paint and outscored the Hornets 21 to 7 in fastbreak points.
 
Washburn will be back in action on Thursday in Lee Arena when they will face Missouri Western at 7:30 p.m.