TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team fell in its MIAA opener to Fort Hays State 68-58 on Wednesday night in a game which the two teams combined for 47 fouls. The Ichabods return to action on Saturday hosting Nebraska-Kearney at 3 p.m. in Lee Arena.
 
The Ichabods (3-4, 0-1 MIAA) jumped out to a 6-0 lead on basketball from three different players and would go on to lead 14-10 after the first media timeout before the Tigers (5-0, 1-0 MIAA) used a 7-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. After Washburn regained the lead at 20-17 with 8:33 to play, the Tigers used an 11-3 run pushing their lead to five at 28-23 eventually going up seven taking a 36-29 lead into the break.
 
To start the second half, the Ichabods cut the lead to 41-38 via a 9-3 run but over the next 10 minutes the Tigers moved their lead to as many as 11 at 55-44 with 6:16 to play. Washburn however outscored the Tigers 10-2 over the next 2:57 cutting the margin to three at 57-54 on a 3-pointer by Isaiah Thorne.
 
Fort Hays State finished the game with an 11-4 spurt hitting 9 of 11 free throws down the stretch taking the 10-point win snapping a six-game winning streak over the Tigers.
 
Washburn was led by Andrew Orr who scored a career-high 14 points hitting all seven of his field goal attempts adding six rebounds and two blocks. Michael Keegan had 13 points with seven rebounds and three blocks adding two assists. Thorne had a career-high six assists scoring seven points.
 
The Tigers were led by Nyjee Wright who had 15 and Jared Vitztum who scored 14.
 
Washburn finished 21 of 52 from the field hitting 3 of 14 shots from 3-point range and 13 of 19 free throws overall. The Tigers were 24 of 34 from the free throw line hitting 19 of 53 overall shots and 6 of 23 from deep.
 
The Tigers had a 38 to 31 advantage on the glass turning 12 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points.
 
The 47 combined fouls were the most since the Ichabods and Missouri Western had 47 in a game on Jan. 9, 2021.
 
Notes:
•Michael Keegan had a career-high three blocks and tied a career high with five free throws and six free throw attempts.
•Andrew Orr also had career highs of six rebounds and two blocks as well as seven field goals made.
•Washburn fell to 22-8 all-time against the Tigers in Lee Arena.