By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For a Washburn University men's basketball team with national title aspirations, there's still plenty of work to be done.
But Saturday was a day of celebration as the Ichabods claimed their 11th regular-season MIAA championship with a 90-60 Senior Day win over Rogers State on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena while also becoming the seventh team in NCAA Division II history to reach the 1,700-win plateau.
Washburn coach Brett Ballard hoists the MIAA championship trophy during Saturday's post-game title celebration after Washburn's 90-60 win over Rogers State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn celebrates late in Saturday's 90-60 win over Rogers State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"This is a surreal feeling,'' senior Michael Keegan said. "To win (the title) here, it's something special to cut down your own nets. When there's a lot riding on the line, this team comes together more than ever. We know what's at stake for us, especially this game and going forward so especially when we fight adversity that's when we tend to bind together even more.''
Washburn senior Andrew Orr cuts down the net after Saturday's 90-60 MIAA title-clinching win over Rogers State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"This is amazing,'' said senior Andrew Orr. "There's been a lot of ups and downs so it kind of feels like all these losses we had beforehand it feels like we really did learn something from those losses and it was bound to happen. We do the right things.''
After honoring seniors Jacob Hanna, Keegan, Orr and Jake Schadegg, Washburn, which improved to 24-2 overall and 15-2 in the MIAA, needed only 28 seconds to take a lead they would not give up as a jumper by Hanna in the paint and a 3-pointer by Schadegg put Washburn up 5-0 out of the gate.
After a bucket by the Hillcats (20-9, 11-6), a layup by Orr followed by 3-pointers by Jack Bachelor and Brayden Shorter pushed the Ichabods to an 11-point lead, forcing a Rogers State timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Hillcats used a 10-0 run to cut Washburn's lead to one, but Washburn responded with a 9-0 run to go back up by 10 before the Ichabods went into the break with a 14-point margin (44-30).
In the second half Rogers State trimmed the Ichabod advantage down to five at 55-50 with 13:19 to go, but another big Ichabod run put the game out of reach as the Ichabods scored 20 of the next 24 points to take a 75-54 lead with 6:03 to play.
The final Ichabod run of 13-2 over the final 4:19 of the game pushed the final margin to 30 for the largest victory over Rogers State in the series.
Hanna led the Ichabods with 15 points, followed by Orr with 14 and Keegan had 13. Keegan also added six rebounds and two blocks.
"It feels really good to accomplish one of our goals, but I don't think we're done yet,'' Hanna said. "We're going to enjoy this one probably today and maybe tomorrow but then Monday we've got to get back to work because we have two tough opponents next week.''
Freshman Dillon Claussen had 10 points off the bench, going 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
Anthony Marshall, Jr. paced the Hillcats with 15 points.
The Ichabods shot 56 percent from the field, hitting 28 of 50 shots and were 26 of 30 from the free throw line.
Rogers State was limited to 39 percent, shooting hitting 22 of 57 shots and 7 of 22 from deep.
The Ichabods also forced 16 Hillcat turnovers, leading to 20 points and out-scored Rogers State 40-18 in the paint. Washburn's bench also outscored the Hillcats' reserves 34-7.
The last outright MIAA regular season Championship for WU came in the 2004 season when the Ichabods went 15-3.
The MIAA regular season championship was the Ichabods first since the 2011-12 season when they shared the title with Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri, going 15-5 in league play.
The Ichabods have now recorded 15 wins in MIAA play seven times.
Washburn will play its final two games on the road, starting at Pittsburg State on Wednesday.
WASHBURN MEN 90, ROGERS STATE 60
Rogers State 30 30 -- 60
Washburn 44 46 -- 90
ROGERS STATE (20-9, 11-6)
Fry 4-8 1-1 9, Marshall Jr. 4-11 5-6 15, Anderson 5-9 0-0 11, Davidson 3-8 0-0 8, Mason 4-10 1-2 10, Omooria 1-4 1-2 4, Ole 0-3 1-2 1, Perdue 1-1 0-0 2, Tillery 0-1 0-2 0, Fox 0-1 0-0 0, Gessert 0-0 0-0 0, Rogers 0-0 0-0 0, Bickel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 9-15 60.
WASHBURN (24-2, 15-2)
Orr 5-7 4-5 14, Schadegg 2-2 0-0 6, Hanna 5-11 5-7 15, Bachelor 2-5 2-2 8, Keegan 5-6 2-2 13, Shorter 2-8 0-0 6, Christiansen 2-4 0-0 4, Ungashick 2-4 3-4 8, Claussen 1-1 8-8 10, Ruud 2-2 2-2 6, Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Dajani 0-0 0-0 0, Cook 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 26-30 90.
3-point goals -- Rogers State 7-22 (Marshall Jr. 2-5, Davidson 2-5, Anderson 1-2, Mason 1-4, Omooria 1-4, Fry 0-1, Ole 0-1), Washburn 8-19 (Schadegg 2-2, Bachelor 2-5, Shorter 2-6, Keegan 1-2, Ungashick 1-3, Christiansen 0-1). Rebounds -- Rogers State 27 (Fry 10), Washburn 33 (Keegan 6, Christiansen 6). Assists -- Rogers State 11 (Marshall Jr. 3), Washburn 14 (Three with 3). Turnovers -- Rogers State 16, Washburn 9. Total fouls -- Rogers State 21, Washburn 15. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.
