By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 2-ranked Washburn University men's basketball returns to Lee Arena on Tuesday night to face Friends at 7 p.m. in the Ichabods' final game before the Thanksgiving break.
Washburn is 6-0 after a 90-54 win over William Jewell on Saturday in Liberty, Mo., with the 36-point win one shy of the largest win in the series history with the Cardinals.
Brett Ballard climbed to No. 2 on Washburn's career win list with Saturday's 90-54 road win at William Jewell. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] In the win over William Jewell, Ichabod coach Brett Ballard moved into second place on the all-time win chart at Washburn, passing Glenn Cafer with his 173rd win on the Ichabod bench. Ballard is 173-79 in his ninth season, while Cafer was 172-145 in 12 seasons at Washburn.
Freshman Amalachi Wilkins led the Ichabods off the bench against William Jewell with 13 points on five of five shooting with four boards and two steals in 16 minutes of play.
Friends is 5-2 on the season after defeating York, Neb., 77-55, last time out on the road.
The Falcons have the distinction of being the only team to defeat the Ichabods in a home opener in Lee Arena.
Friends topped the Ichabods, 89-88, on Nov. 16, 1990. Since then the Ichabods have won 36 consecutive home openers and Washburn is 40-1 overall in home openers after last Wednesday's 85-81 win over Rockhurst.
The Ichabods are fifth in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at plus 27.2 and fourth in field goal percentage at 54.4 percent.
Topekan Jack Bachelor is fifth in the nation in 3-pointers made with 18 while leading the MIAA and Dillon Claussen is eighth in the nation in double-doubles with two. Claussen is also 11th in the nation in field goal percentage at 73.3 and 17th in total rebounds with 45.
Jeremiah Jones is second in the nation in total steals with 19 and is ranked 13th in steals per game at 3.17 per contest.
Brady Christiansen (1) is set to play in his 100th career game for Washburn Tuesday night against Friends. [File photo/TSN]Bachelor will be making his 50th consecutive start on Tuesday against Friends while Brady Christiansen will play in his 100th game as an Ichabod.
Washburn has a 17-game home court winning streak, which is tied for the fifth-longest in the D-II ranks.
Friends is averaging 87.3 points per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.
Cahlese Lee leads the Falcons in scoring with a 16.1 average, followed by Randy Woolf Jr. at 13.6, Collin Maclin at 13.4 and Ringo Deng at 10.7 points per game.
The Ichabods lead the series with Friends 25-1 and have won the last 11 in the series.
The Ichabods and the Falcons have not met since the 2000-01 season and the Ichabods won that game, 93-57.
strong minutes.
The Ichabods will host Ottawa at 2 p.m. on Saturday before opening MIAA play at home against Nebraska-Kearney on Dec. 4 and Fort Hays State on Dec. 6.
The Ichabods will host Ottawa at 2 p.m. on Saturday before opening MIAA play at home against Nebraska-Kearney on Dec. 4 and Fort Hays State on Dec. 6.
