TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 79-69 win over Benedictine on Saturday night in Lee Arena closing the game on a 13-3 run over the final 4:17 to pull away from a pesky Raven squad for Washburn's 25
th win in a row over the visitors from Atchison. The Ichabods will open MIAA on Wednesday against Fort Hays State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
After the Ravens (6-3) tied the score with 4:17 to play,
Connor Deffebaugh kick started an 11-0 run with a step back jumper and a 3-pointer followed by two more free throws putting the Ichabods up 73-66 with 3:01 remaining. A pair of free throws by
Jalen Lewis pushed the lead to nine at 75-66 with 2:20 left and a jumper by
Michael Keegan with 1:52 to go put the Ichabods up 11. A free throw by the Ravens with 1:25 to go cut the lead to 10, but two more free throws by Deffebaugh for his career-high 16
th and 17
th points of the night stretched the lead back to 12 before a tip in at the buzzer cut the final margin back to 10.
Washburn led 36-33 at the break after trailing by as many as seven in the first half with 5:42 to go, but the Ichabods (3-3) closed the frame on a 13-3 run taking the 3-point margin into the locker room
Deffebaugh scored 17 along with Keegan who scored a career-high 17 on 7 of 9 shooting adding a career-high 17 with eight rebounds.
Jalen Lewis scored 16 points with career-highs of eight rebounds and five assists in the win.
Matt Austin led the Ravens with 23 points taking game-high honors and Jayden Temme scored 11.
Washburn held the Ravens to 37 percent shooting in the game as they hit 20 of 54 shots overall. Washburn finished at 50 percent going 28 of 56 from the field hitting 10 of 22 shots from 3-point range. The Ravens were 11 of 31 from deep. From the line, the Ichabods were 13 of 15 while Benedictine was 18 of 23.
The Ichabods held a 38 to 27 advantage on the glass turning 10 offensive rebounds into 10 points. Washburn also outscored the Ravens 32 to 18 in the paint and 14 to 2 in Fastbreak points.
