By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team enjoyed the heck out of Thursday's marquee MIAA matchup with No. 12 nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma, especially the outcome.
In a game that featured 16 lead changes and 11 ties, Washburn ended the game with a 16-8 run to pull out a 75-68 victory in Lee Arena.
Former Washburn Rural star Jack Bachelor (14) came off the bench to score 19 points as Washburn knocked off No. 12 Central Oklahoma 75-68 Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"It was super fun,'' said freshman guard Jack Bachelor, who came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points for the Ichabods. "That's what I came to Washburn for, that's what you do.
"It was the first game out of break and UCO is obviously a really good team so we knew it was going to be a really hard game. I thought we played together as a team. The 3s weren't falling as much as usually they do, but I thought we moved the ball and made winning plays at the end and got rebounds and made free throws when we needed to.''
Neither team led by more than seven points in the wire-to-wire nailbiter, with the final score marking the Ichabods' biggest lead of the night while Central Oklahoma's biggest advantage was a brief five-point lead.
Sophomore Sam Ungashick (10) scored 16 points with three 3-pointers in Thursday's 75-68 MIAA win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior MIchael Keegan scored 15 points, including a huge 3-pointer late in the game, as Washburn took a 75-68 MIAA win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Bachelor scored five points over the final 1:11 as the Ichabods (8-4 overall, 4-2 MIAA) pulled away for the win while sophomore Sam Ungashick added 16 points and junior Michael Keegan 15.
Keegan's biggest shot of the night came with 2:33 left when he hit a 3-pointer to put WU up by two possessions at 66-62 and the Bronchos got no closer than three the rest of the way.
"We knew this was going to be a tough test and we played good enough to win, but we can definitely play a lot better,'' Keegan said. "This was our first game in I think 16 days, so we have a lot to shake off, simple turnovers, offensive rebounds.
"We played well, but there's definitely better basketball to be played.''
Keegan and junior Andrew Orr both grabbed six rebounds while Orr also led Washburn with five assists.
"Every game's big, but it was a long break so you're anticipating playing,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "It's a ranked team, it's a home game and it was a good college game.
"I'm proud of the way our guys fought and found a way to get it done.''
Jaden Wells scored a game-high 22 points for Central Oklahoma (12-3, 4-3) while Danquez Dawsey added 17 points.
Washburn will return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday, hosting Newman in an MIAA contest.
WASHBURN MEN 75, CENTRAL OKLAHOMA 68
Central Oklahoma 33 35 -- 68
Washburn 34 41 -- 75
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA (12-3, 4-3)
Haasl 4-6 0-2 8, Aymond 0-0 0-0 0, Wells 5-20 9-10 22, Dawsey 6-16 5-7 17, Turner 3-6 0-0 9, Majouk 1-4 0-0 3, Willenborg 2-4 2-3 6, Quick 0-5 1-2 1, Hannah 0-0 0-0 0, Barber 0-0 0-0 0, Ingram 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-62 17-24 68.
WASHBURN (8-4, 4-2)
Christiansen 1-4 3-3 5, Orr 3-6 0-0 6, Johnson 1-4 4-6 6, Ungashick 5-10 3-4 16, Keegan 7-9 0-0 15, Byrd 0-1 0-0 0, Bachelor 3-10 12-18 19, Schadegg 2-5 2-2 8, Shorter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 24-33 75.
3-point goals -- Central Oklahoma 7-21 (Wells 3-10, Turner 3-5, Majouk 1-3, Dawsey 0-2, Quick 0-1), Washburn 7-21 (Ungashick 3-6, Schadegg 2-5, Keegan 1-3, Bachelor 1-3, Johnson 0-2, Christiansen 0-1, Shorter 0-1). Rebounds -- Central Oklahoma 34 (Haasl 7), Washburn 40 (Orr 6, Keegan 6). Assists -- Central Oklahoma 12 (Dawsey 6), Washburn 16 (Orr 5). Turnovers -- Central Oklahoma 9, Washburn 14. Total fouls -- Central Oklahoma 21, Washburn 19. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- Schadegg.
