By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball team won its 15th game in a row at Lincoln, remaining unbeaten since the Eisenhower Administration in Jefferson City, Mo. with a 77-61 MIAA win over the Blue Tigers Thursday night in Jason Gym.
Washburn, which snapped a brief two-game losing streak, led 39-26 at the break after jumping out to a 10-2 lead 3:35 into the game as Jalen Lewis scored seven of Washburn's first 12 points of the game.
Lincoln cut the lead to 12-9 but the Ichabods used a 10-0 run to push the lead back to 22-9. Washburn stretched its lead to 15 but three straight layups by the Blue Tigers (2-18, 1-14 MIAA) forced an Ichabod timeout before Washburn (14-9, 11-6 MIAA) finished with four points in a row to take the 13-point lead into the locker room.
Senior Tyler Geiman paced five Washburn double-figure scorers with 18 points in Thursday's 77-61 win at Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn shot 55 percent in the opening frame, hitting 15 of 29 shots and 5 of 9 from deep, while holding Lincoln to 34 percent and 2 of 11 from 3-point range.
Washburn out-rebounded the Blue Tigers 22 to 13 in the half.
To start the second half, the Ichabods outscored the Blue Tigers 11-2 over the first three minutes while hitting 5 of their first 6 shots while building a 50-28 lead.
After the Blue Tigers cut back the lead to 16 at 56-40, Washburn used a 9-0 lead to go up a game-high 25 before Lincoln finished on an 11-2 run to end the game.
Senior Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points, pacing five Washburn players in double figures.
Jeremy Harrell recorded his second double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Lewis and Connor Deffebaugh finished with 10 points as did Jonny Clausing, who hit 5 of 6 shots off the bench.
Michael Keegan had nine points and nine boards.
The Ichabods held the Blue Tigers to 39 percent shooting on 24 of 61 from the field while the Ichabods finished at 51 percent, going 31 of 61 overall as Washburn led 39:18 of the game.
Washburn also held a 43 to 32 advantage on the glass and outscored Lincoln 42 to 28 in the paint.
Washburn will host Central Missouri at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
