By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabods gave themselves an early Christmas present Saturday afternoon, with the WU men snapping a three-game MIAA losing streak with a 76-51 romp past Missouri Western at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods notched their first conference win and improved to 4-6 overall while leading by as many as 27 points and holding Missouri Western (5-2, 2-1) to a season-low 51 points.
Washburn junior Tyler Nelson scored 19 points with seven rebounds, six assists and six steals in the Ichabods' 76-51 MIAA romp past Missouri Western Saturday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Re
"We were good on both ends and for sure it was our most complete game,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "I thought our defense was tremendous and offensively we were really good.
"We mixed up paint touches with th 3-ball and getting to the rim in transition. Everything was kind of clicking tonight.''
Washburn used a 36-9 run over a 13-minute stretch to turn the game into a rout.
With the Ichabods holding a 15-10 lead midway through the first half after a 3-pointer by ssophomore Michael Keegan, the Griffons scored six straight points to take their largest lead of the game at 21-15 with 7:26 to play in the half.
But Washburn responded with a 9-0 run and added to it after three Griffon points to finish the opening half on a 22-5 spurt to take a 37-26 halftime advantage.
The Ichabods began the second half on a 19-4 run over the first 8:15 to take a 56-30 lead with 11:12 to go.
The Griffons would not get closer than 15 the rest of the way as Washburn won its fifth game in a row over Missouri Western.
Junior Tyler Nelson, who missed the early portion of the season with a foot fracture, scored a game-high 19 points, going four of eight from 3-point range, and added seven rebounds, six assists and a career-high six steals while playing 37 minutes.
"It's always good to get a win, especially before the (holiday) break,'' Nelson said. "I definitely think our team is on an uphill trend.''
Nelson's six steals were the most by an Ichabod since Will McNeill had seven against Missouri Southern on Jan. 31, 2013.
Former Hayden standout Levi Braun broke out of a recent shooting slump with a 17-point effort off the bench.
Braun, a sophomore, went six of seven from the field and hit five of six 3-point attempts as the Ichabods went 12 of 24 on 3-pointers as a team.
"Personally I had a couple of games where I ddin't play my best,'' Braun said. "I didn't shoot it well and didn't defend as well as I need to. As a team we've shown it in stretches but there's been games where we didn't put it together for a whole 40 so going into the break I think this is very refreshing.
"I think we kind of showed how good we can be.''
Keegan scored 14 points while freshman Brady Christiansen tied a career high with nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Ichabods out rebounded the Griffons, 43-30
Missouri Western was led by Reed Kemp with 15 pointss off the bench.
The Ichabods will return to action on New Year's Eve at Central Oklahoma.
