ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods picked up an 83-77 win over Missouri Western surviving a 19-2 run midway through the second half to improve to 6-4 and 2-2 in the MIAA. Washburn will host Northeastern State at 4 p.m. on Tuesday prior to leaving campus for Christmas break.
Washburn led 62-47 with 12:31 to go after back-to-back-to-back three pointers by
Sam Ungashick,
Jake Schadegg and
Brady Christiansen before the Griffons came back with a 19-2 run over a 5:55 time period after they hit 8 of 11 while the Ichabods were limited to 1 of 10 shooting as Missouri Western took a 66-64 lead with 5:48 to go.
Michael Keegan hit a 3-pointer of his own to put the Ichabods back in front, but two free throws by Missouri Western (8-3, 3-3 MIAA) returned the Griffons to a 1-point lead at 68-67. Buckets by Christiansen and Ungashick pushed Washburn's lead back to four at 72-68 with 4:24 remaining, but the Griffons hit a deep 3-pointer cutting the lead to 72-71.
From the 3:34 mark to the end of the game, Washburn connected on 4 of its final 5 shots including using a 9-0 run taking an 81-71 lead with 1:13 to play. Missouri Western did not go away with back to back 3's by Josh Book and Zion Swader pulled the Griffons within four at 81-77, but Washburn closed out the game with a pair of free throws by Keegan and the six-point win.
Washburn led 44-39 at the break finishing the first 20 minutes on a 5-0 run after shooting 47 percent from the field. Missouri Western shot 59 percent from the field in the first half.
Ungashick led the Ichabods with a career-high 26 points hitting 9 of 16 shots and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Keegan stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high 13 points with eight rebounds, a career-high six assists, four steals and a block.
Jack Bachelor had 10 points in his first start of the season adding five assists and two steals and Christiansen had nine points and nine rebounds.
JaRon Thames led the Griffons with 16 points.
Washburn shot 45 percent for the game hitting 31 of 69 attempts overall and then hit 10 of 24 from 3-point land. The Griffons finished 30 of 53 overall shooting 57 percent from the field and 8 of 20 from 3-point range. The Ichabods also turned it over a season-best four times in the win. Washburn forced 14 turnovers in the game leading to 19 points.
