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The No. 8-ranked Washburn men outscored visiting Pittsburg State 51-31 in the second half to pull away for an 84-62 MIAA victory over Pittsburg State Saturday at Lee Arena.
Washburn, which improved to 10-1 overall and in the MIAA, led by just a 33-31 margin at halftime before dominating things after the break.
“Basketball’s funny sometimes,’’ Washburn coach Brett Ballard told KTPK radio. “I don’t know that we played all that much different in the second half. Obviously, we played better.
“I thought we got some really good looks in the first half that didn’t go. Offensively, (the second half) I think we kind of got in a flow and I just love that our guys are staying aggressive.''
Tyler Geiman
Pittsburg State tied the game at 33 early in the second half, but junior Jalen Lewis canned a 3-pointer with 17:22 left to put the Ichabods ahead to stay and WU ended the game with a 25-11 run over the final 10 minutes.
Senior point guard Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 19 points and five assists, while Tyler Nelson had 16 points and 5 rebounds and redshirt freshman Levi Braun had 15 points on 5 3-pointers.
Nelson scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and finished the game with 4 3-pointers, all in the second half
“My teammates just kept getting me the ball and kept having confidence in me,’’ Nelson told KTPK radio. “They kept finding me and I stayed with it, stayed shooting and they started falling.’’
Senior Rathen Carter and sophomore Connor Deffebaugh contributed 9 points each and Carter led the team with 6 rebounds.
The Ichabods played their second straight game without senior Drew Maschoff and junior Jonny Clausing because of injuries.
Bobby Arthur-Williams, Jr. led the Gorillas (5-6, 5-6) with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Ryan Pippins added 15 points.
Washburn heads to Emporia State Saturday to face the rival Hornets in a 3:30 p.m. game at White Auditorium.
WASHBURN MEN 84, PITTSBURG STATE 62
Pittsburg State 31 31 -- 62
Washburn 33 51 -- 84
PITTSBURG STATE (5-6, 5-6)
Williams 5-12 6-9 17, Burch 3-4 0-0 6, Hardrict 1-8 3-4 5, Forney 0-3 0-0 0, Vogts 0-6 0-0 0, Givens 2-3 3-4 7, Pippins 5-9 2-2 15, Moore 0-2 0-0 0, Lawrence 3-6 2-2 9, Huefner 1-1 0-0 3, Holloway 0-0 0-0 0, Roelfs 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 16-21 62.
WASHBURN (10-1, 10-1)
Carter 4-5 0-0 9, Williams 2-4 2-2 6, Geiman 6-15 6-8 19, Nelson 4-13 4-4 16, Lewis 2-6 2-2 8, Deffenbaugh 2-2 3-4 9, Braun 5-9 0-0 15, McKee 1-2 0-0 2, Cordes 0-1 0-0 0, Thorne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 17-20 84.
3-point goals -- Pittsburg State 6-21 (Pippins 3-5, Williams 1-4, Lawrence 1-2, Huefner 1-1, Vogts 0-3, Forney 0-2, Hardict 0-2, Moore 0-1, Roelfs 0-1), Washburn 15-35 (Braun 5-8, Nelson 4-11, Lewis 2-5, Deffenbaugh 2-2, Geiman 1-6, Carter 1-2, Thorne 0-1). Rebounds -- Pittsburg State 36 (Williams 10), Washburn 33 (Carter 6). Assists -- Pittsburg State 9 (Hardrict 3), Washburn 11 (Geiman 5). Turnovers -- Pittsburg State 13, Washburn 7. Fouled out — None.
