By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Unversity's men's basketball team looked to be on its way to a third straight win when the Ichabods opened up an 11-point lead less than nine minutes into the first half of Monday's home MIAA contest against Northeastern State, WU's final game of 2021.
But instead of celebrating, the Ichabods were left to do some soul-searching after the RiverHawks stormed back to take an 85-82 win, snapping an eight-game losing streak against Washburn.
"I just haven't been able to reach this team yet,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said after the Ichabods fell to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA. "This is as poor of a coaching job as I've done and I just haven't been able to reach them.
"Our consistency's just not there, our discipline's not there, our execution's not there, our toughness isn't there. We've always out-competed teams here and we're not doing that right now and I've got to get it figured out.''
Tyler Geiman
Levi Braun
Washburn appeared to be in control when it jumped out in front 7-2, 18-11 and 24-13, but the RiverHawks (7-4, 2-3) fought back to within five points at the half (37-32) and went up 49-45 with 11:44 remaining.
Washburn briefly regained the lead on two occasions and there was a tie at 57 before the RiverHawks scored five straight points and held off the Ichabods the rest of the way, leading by as many eight points.
Northeastern State out-shot and out-rebounded Washburn and Ballard admitted that Monday's loss was one of the most disappointing in his five seasons with the Ichabods.
"No question,'' Ballard said. "I'm not taking anything away from Northeastern, but probably one of the worst ones we've had, especially at home, right before the break.
"I just can't believe that we let a team come out here and out-compete us on our home court.''
Senior point guard Tyler Geiman had a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists while former Hayden star Levi Braun had 17 points and four 3-pointers and Jeremy Harrell added 13 points.
Starters Connor Deffebaugh, Jalen Lewis and Michael Keegan all fouled out for Washburn as the Riverhawks hit 27 of 34 free throw attempts.
Christian Cook scored a game-high 26 points for Northeastern State (five of seven on 3-pointers) while Emeka Obukwelu added 21 points.
The Ichabods will return to action Jan. 1 at Central Missouri.
NORTHEASTERN STATE MEN 85, WASHBURN 82
Northeastern State 32 53 -- 85
Washburn 37 45 -- 82
NORTHEASTERN STATE (7-4, 2-3)
Obukwelu 6-9 9-9 21, Luster 1-1 0-0 2, Cook 8-13 5-5 26, Bailey 3-9 0-0 7, Arnold 5-9 5-7 15, Perkins 2-6 7-9 11, Agu 1-4 1-2 3, Gendron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-51 27-34 85.
WASHBURN (6-6, 3-3)
Orr 1-4 0-0 2, Deffebaugh 1-4 4-4 6, Geiman 6-14 9-13 22, Lewis 1-5 0-0 3, Keegan 3-8 1-2 9, Braun 5-9 3-4 17, Monday 3-4 1-1 9, Harrell 5-12 1-2 13, Thorne 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-60 20-28 82.
3-point goals -- Northeastern State 6-15 (Cook 5-7 Bailey 1-3, Perkins 0-3, Agu 0-2), Washburn 12-33 (Braun 4-8, Keegan 2-6, Harrell 2-6, Monday 2-3, Lewis 1-3, Geiman 1-6, Deffebaugh 0-1), Rebounds -- Northeastern State 38 (Obukwelu 9, Arnold 9, Agu 9), Washburn 28 (Keegan 6). Assists -- Northeastern State 15 (Obukwelu 4, Arnold 4), Washburn 15 (Geiman 10). Turnovers -- Northeastern State 15, Washburn 101 Total fouls -- Northeastern State 21, Washburn 23. Fouled out -- Obukwelu, Bailey, Deffebaugh, Lewis, Keegan. Technical fouls -- none.
