By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabods picked up an 83-77 men's basketball win over Missouri Western on Saturday in St. Joseph, Mo., surviving a 19-2 run midway through the second half to improve to 6-4 and 2-2 in the MIAA.
Sophomore Sam Ungashick scored a career-high 26 points in Saturday's 83-77 Washburn win at Missouri Western. [Fie photo/TSN]
Washburn will host Northeastern State at 4 p.m. on Tuesday prior to leaving for Christmas break.
Washburn led 62-47 with 12:31 to go after back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by Sam Ungashick, Jake Schadegg and Brady Christiansen before the Griffons came back with their big run after they hit eight of 11 shots while the Ichabods were limited to one of 10 shooting as Missouri Western took a 66-64 lead with 5:48 to go.
Michael Keegan hit a 3-pointer to put the Ichabods back in front, but two free throws by Missouri Western (8-3, 3-3) put the Griffons back in front, 68-67.
Buckets by Christiansen and Ungashick pushed Washburn's lead back to four at 72-68 with 4:24 remaining, but the Griffons hit a 3-pointer to get back within a point.
From the 3:34 mark to the end of the game, Washburn connected on four of its final five shots, including a 9-0 run to take an 81-71 lead with 1:13 left.
Missouri Western hit back-to-back 3s by Josh Book and Zion Swader to pull within four at 81-77, but Washburn closed out the game with a pair of free throws by Keegan for the six-point win.
Washburn led 44-39 at the break, finishing the first 20 minutes on a 5-0 run after shooting 47 percent from the field. Missouri Western shot 59 percent from the field in the first half.
Ungashick led the Ichabods with a career-high 26 points, hitting nine of 16 shots and six of nine from 3-point range.
Keegan stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high 13 points, eight rebounds, a career-high six assists, four steals and a block.
Jack Bachelor had 10 points in the first start of his college career, adding five assists and two steals while Christiansen had nine points and nine rebounds.
JaRon Thames led the Griffons with 16 points.
Washburn shot 45 percent for the game, hitting 31 of 69 attempts overall and 10 of 24 from 3-point range.
The Griffons shot 57 percent from the field (30 of 53) and eight of 20 from 3-point range.
The Ichabods turned the ball over a season-low four times in the win. Washburn forced 14 turnovers in the game leading to 19 points.
Senior Aubree Dewey scored 18 points in Saturday's 98-78 loss at Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
MISSOURI WESTERN WOMEN 98, WASHBURN 78
Washburn kept the game close through the first half Saturday, but a hot-shooting last 20 minutes by Missouri Western gave the Griffons a 98-78 MIAA win at home.
The Ichabods return to Lee Arena for one last game in 2023 against Northeastern State at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Both teams got off to hot starts offensively, going back and forth.
Mackenzie Gamble hit a layup with 4:44 left in the first quarter to give her seven quick points and put Washburn (7-3 overall, 2-2 MIAA) up 12-9.
Less than a minute later Missouri Western (8-3, 4-2) tied the game at 14. The Griffons continued the hot start, shooting nine of 13 in the quarter to lead 24-19.
The Griffons pushed the lead to seven early in the second before the Ichabods started to chip away.
Madelyn Amekporfor hit a 3-pointer to spark a 9-2 Washburn run, tying the game up at 33 on a 3 from Aniah Wayne.
The Ichabods were able to take the lead with 3:01 left in the quarter on a pair of free throws by Lakyn Schieferecke and held the lead until Missouri Western went on a 5-0 run to end the half with a 44-41 advantage.
The Griffons took their momentem into the second half, shooting 50 percent as a team in the third quarter.
Washburn was able to keep it close, cutting the lead from eight to three with 3:56 left in the quarter on a jumper by Aubree Dewey.
A pair of free throws by MWSU with 1:29 pushed the lead into double-digits for the first time. Dewey knocked down a triple in the final minute to make it 69-61 going into the fourth.
Missouri Western began the fourth quarter on a 4-0 run to go up by 13 points and the lead never got below 10 the rest of the way.
Four players from Washburn finished in double figures, led by Dewey who had 18 points to go along with three assists and a pair of steals.
Wayne made three 3-pointers on her way to 15 points while adding three steals. Yibari Nwidadah had 13 points on four of eight shooting with six boards and Gamble added 10 points.
Jayme Jackson led a quartet of Griffons to score in double digits with a game-high 20 points.
