By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This time it really will be the last game of the season between No. 17-ranked Washburn and Missouri Western, who will meet for fourth time in Saturday night's NCAA Division II Central Regional men's tournament in Aberdeen, S.D.
The 19-6 Ichabods, who are making their 15th NCAA postseason appearance, are the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Missouri Western (14-10) in an 8:45 game Saturday, with the winner advancing to a tournament semifinal to face No. 2 Northwest Missouri.
Washburn is 1-2 against the Griffons this season, but is coming off a 101-72 semifinal romp past Western last Friday in the MIAA Tournament semifinals in Maryville, Mo.
"They're a good team,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said of the Griffons. "They played us really, really well the first two times. They were a little beat up this past week and they didn't play as well.
"We played pretty good against them the last game, but they're a very good team and they've played really well against us the last two years, so it will be a big-time battle.''
Tyler Geiman will lead Washburn into the NCAA Central regional tournament after sinking a nearly three-quarters-court 3-pointer last Saturday to give the Ichabods the MIAA Tournament title. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After the win over Western the Ichabods went on to claim their sixth MIAA Postseason Tournament title and first since 2012 with a 69-68 win over Northwest.
"We played really well against them, which I hope will give our guys confidence that if you can play well against those guys it should give you some confidence that you can play well against anybody in the country,'' Ballard said.
The three MIAA rivals are on the same side of the six-school regional bracket while three Northern Sun Conference members are on the other side.
The host Northern State Wolves are the No. 1 seed and will take on the winner between No. 4 Wayne State and No. 5 Minnesota State Moorhead.
Missouri Western swept the two regular-season meetings with the Ichabods, winning 74-67 in St. Joseph on Jan. 9 and 81-77 in Topeka on Feb. 18 before the Ichabods bounced back with last week's 29-point rout.
The Ichabods have never faced Missouri Western in the NCAA Tournament and are 14-14 overall in tournament appearances.
Senior Tyler Geiman, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer against Northwest in the MIAA final, leads Washburn in scoring (21.2 points per game), assists (6.4 average) and rebounds (6.6 average).
Geiman recorded the first triple double in Washburn history with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Northeastern State on Feb. 23.
Washburn junior Jalen Lewis was the MVP in last week's MIAA Tournament, including a career-high 29 points against Missouri Western. [File photo]
Junior Jalen Lewis, the MIAA Tournament MVP, averages 13.8 points and has hit 68 of 134 3-point attempts.
He scored a career-high 29 points against Missouri Western in the MIAA Tournament semifinals and enters Saturday's game with 999 career points.
Sophomore Tyler Nelson averages 11.1 points while junior Jonny Clausing averages 9.8 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Tyrell Carroll leads Missouri Wester with a 17-point average and he also dishes out 4.2 assist per game. Will Eames averages 12.3 points and 8.6 rebounds while Caleb Bennett (11.7), Reese Glover (11.2) and Q Mays (11.3) also average in double figures.
