By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabods notched their 10th game in a row over Pittsburg State in a 71-61 win on Wednesday in PSU's John Lance Arena.
Senior Jacob Hanna led the way with 18 points Wednesday as Washburn improved to 25-2 with a 71-61 road win at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
MIAA regular-season champion Washburn (25-2 overall, 16-2 MIAA) led from start to finish in the win, topping the Gorillas for the second time this season after an 89-71 non-conference win in Topeka on Nov. 19.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 10-3 lead kept the Gorillas at arms-length the rest of the half, building a margin of eight points with 7:25 to play in the frame.
Pitt State did cut the lead to one at 29-28 with 2:19 in the half before the Ichabods scored 6 of the last 8 points of the half, taking a 34-30 lead into the break.
Washburn shot 2 of 13 from the 3-point line in the first half, while the Gorillas hit 7 of 15 overall.
The Ichabods came back with an 8-2 run to start the second half, building a lead of 10 at 42-32 before the Gorillas (16-11, 12-6) scored eight points to pull within two with 15:08 to play.
But a 17-4 run by the Ichabods over the next 7:34 of the game put Washburn up by 15 and the Gorillas would not get closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Senior Jacob Hanna led the Ichabods with a game-high 18 points, adding five boards in the win and scoring 11 in the first half. Sophomore Brayden Shorter finished with 16, hitting four 3-pointers, while sophomore Jack Bachelor scored 13 with four assists and freshman Dillon Claussen scored nine off the bench.
Senior Michael Keegan scored five with five rebounds and four steals, giving him 158 for his career and placing him in second place on the Ichabod all-time chart.
Avery Taggart scored 15 points to lead the Gorillas.
Washburn will wrap up the regular season at Missouri Southern on Saturday in the MIAA Game of the Week, available on 38The Spot in Kansas City at 1:30 p.m.
WU women drop 85-62 decision at No. 10 Pittsburg State
Riding a big second quarter, No. 10-ranked Pittsburg State downed Washburn 85-62 on Wednesday evening.
A layup by junior Yibari Nwidadah at the 6:19 mark of the first quarter put Washburn (16-12 overall, 10-8 MIAA) up 8-7, but the Gorillas (25-3, 17-1) went on a 7-2 run over the next 2:11, going up by four. The lead never got higher than five points in the first as both teams shot at least 45.0%. A 3-pointer just before the buzzer by WU's Aniah Wayne cut the deficit to one at 20-19 to end the opening 10 minutes.
After Pittsburg State went up by five early in the second quarter an and-one layup by Nwidadah sparked an 8-0 run for Washburn to put the Ichabods up 27-24 after Gabi Giovannetti connected on a 3-pointer.
Another bucket from Giovannetti put WU by three with 4:44 to go in the half, but from that point on it was nearly all Gorillas as they finished the quarter on a 19-2 run, shooting 58.8% in the quarter and 4-5 from deep to lead 48-34.
The Ichabods kept pace early in the third and were able to make it a single-digit game after Nwidadah got four straight points with 3:44 left in the quarter. Washburn shot 50.0% for the quarter but a late 9-4 run by Pittsburg State put them in front 67-54 heading into the fourth quarter.
The lead stayed at 13 with 7:00 to go on another layup from Nwidadah. After that the next 11 points all went to the home team, going up by more than 20 points. That is where the deficit would stay as the Ichabods fell 85-62.
Four players from Washburn scored in double figures, led by Nwidadah with 14 and eight rebounds. Giovannetti had 13 points while Payton Sterk and Madelyn Amekporfor both added 11.
Grace Pyle and Karenna Gerber led the way for Pittsburg State with 24 points apiece in the victory.
The Ichabods will finish out the regular season on Saturday, facing Missouri Southern on the road at 3:30 p.m.
