Welcome to Top Sports News

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

Washburn guard Levi Braun missed three of his first four shots, including a pair of 3-point attempts, over the opening 2:55 of Saturday's non-conference finale against Ottawa.

Former Hayden standout Levi Braun led the way with a game-high 21 points, including six 3-pointers, in Washburn's 96-63 win over Ottawa on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

But that was the last time the 6-foot-4 sophomore Hayden product would miss, hitting 7 of 10 shots on the day, including 6 of 8 3-pointers, while tying his career-high with a game-high 21 points in 19 minutes of action to lead the way as Washburn snapped a brief two-game losing streak with a 96-63 romp at Lee Arena.

"I try not to let that (early misses) play any part in my mental process,'' Braun said. "If I'm open I shoot. I try to free myself up for shots and I have faith I'm going to make those shots so missing my first couple is not really going to faze me at all.''

The Ichabods, who evened their record at 3-3, never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 17-5 lead over the first six-plus minutes of the game while hitting 7 of 12 shots and 3 of 6 shots from 3-point range.

Braun led the charge with eight points and a pair of 3s en route to his big day.

Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 18 points midway through the first half before an 8-0 run by the Braves, who played the game as an exhibition, trimmed the lead back to 10 at 39-29 with 2:38 to play in the half.

The Ichabods answered with a 9-3 run of their own to close out the half with a 16-point lead at 48-32.
 
Washburn would lead by 35 points with under a minute to play in the second half after hitting 16 of 27 shots from the field at a 60 percent clip as well as a 14 of 17 performance at the free throw line.

Connor Deffebaugh scored 17 points, including a 7 of 9 performance at the free throw line, in Washburn's 96-63 win over Ottawa on Saturday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Sophomore Andrew Orr scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench in Saturday's 96-63 win over Ottawa. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior Connor Deffebaugh backed Braun with 17 points and sophomores Andrew Orr and Jayden Hibbitt added 13 a piece off the bench. Freshman Brady Christiansen and Orr both grabbed nine rebounds.

Fourteen players saw action for the Ichabods, with 11 cracking the scoring column.

"We're just trying to get better,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "I think this team's just scratching the surface. We wanted to take some steps today and I thought we did that.''
 
Ty Bland had 13 points off the bench to lead the Braves.
 
Washburn shot 54 percent from the field for the game (34 of 63) while going 20 of 25 from the free throw line.

The Ichabods will have a quick turnaround as they will open MIAA play at Northeastern State on Monday in Tahlequah, Okla.

WASHBURN MEN 96, OTTAWA 63 

Ottawa       32 31 -- 63 

Washburn 48 48 -- 96 

OTTAWA (4-4)

Fields 0-2 1-2 1, Mason 3-4 2-2 10, Buggage 1-6 0-0 2, Moore 2-8 6-6 11, Fredrickson 3-5 0-0 7, Zambrano 0-4 0-0 0, Woods 3-7 0-0 6, Bland 5-7 3-4 13, Pope 1-5 0-0 2, Scott 2-4 0-0 4, Remington 1-2 2-2 4, Hooper 0-1 0-0 0, Cheatem 0-2 0-2 0, Trogtad 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-58 14-18 63. 

WASHBURN (3-3) 

Christiansen 2-5 0-0 4, Deffebaugh 5-8 7-9 17, Monday 3-4 0-0 7, Braun 7-10 1-1 21, Keegan 1-6 2-3 4, Moore 1-3 0-0 2, Orr 6-7 1-2 13, Vincent 1-3 3-3 5, Dajani 3-5 2-2 8, Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Hibbitt 4-5 4-5 13, Schadegg 1-3 0-0 2, Byrd 0-0 0-0 0, Davidson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-63 20-25 96. 

3-point goals -- Ottawa 5-17 (Mason 2-2, Fredrickson 1-1, Buggage 1-2, Moore 1-4, Zambrano 0-4, Bland 0-1, Pope 0-1, Cheatem 0-1, Fields 0-1), Washburn 8-20 (Braun 6-8, Monday 1-1, Hibbitt 1-2, Christiansen 0-2, Deffebaugh 0-1, Keegan 0-1, Nelson 0-1, Dajani 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Schadegg 0-2), Rebounds -- Ottawa 27 (Mason 4, Pope 4), Washburn 4` (Christiansen 9, Orr 9). Assists -- Ottawa 13 (Five players with two), Washburn 18 (Vincent 4). Turnovers -- Ottawa 18, Washburn 14. Total fouls -- Ottawa 21, Washburn 16. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- Pope.