By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Washburn men’s basketball wrapped up its fourth game in eight days with a home game against Central Missouri on Saturday.
The Ichabods played a complete game, leading from start to finish to win 85-74, fueled by a near triple-double from senior Tyler Geiman.
“Unbelievable, he is probably playing at 80%, he’s not healthy and he gets 22, 10, seven and two steals and plays the whole game,” said Washburn coach Brett Ballard. “It’s a lot of fun to watch that every game and it makes me a hell of a lot better coach.”
Washburn senior Tyler Geiman flirted with a triple-double in Saturday's 85-74 home MIAA victory over Central Missouri. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Washburn moved to 15-9 after the win, the team's second in a row.
“I am happy that we bounced back, the road trip was tough,” Ballard said. “It was a little bit of an anomaly, but you know we got to bounce back and we came and took care of business here at home.”
There was no fatigue early on as the Ichabods jumped out to a 16-9 lead. In that time Geiman scored seven points and dished out three assists.
“One of our focuses this week has been getting off to good starts in both halves and I think that starts with me and J-Lew (Jalen Leiws) so just being able to get off to a good start and get everyone else going (is important),” Geiman said.
Inside the 10-minute mark Washburn’s offense got cold as the Ichabods were held scoreless from the 8:40 mark until there was just over five minutes left in the half.
The Ichabods defense held firm and maintained the lead, holding the Mules to just 30-percent shooting over the first 15 minutes of play.
Inside the five-minute mark Central Missouri upped its aggressiveness, getting to the line and knocking down jump shots to cut the lead to three.
Geiman took over from there to calm the run, scoring the final seven points of the half for both teams to give Washburn a 38-30 lead at the break.
Washburn senior Jeremy Harrell scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Ichabods' 85-74 win over Central Missouri on Saturday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Senior Jeremy Harrell got going for the Ichabods early in the second half, with seven points to make it a double-digit game.
“(It was) kind of an ugly game, not really much flow or rhythm because of how many fouls were called but I thought we did a good job in the second half of attacking and getting to the line,” Ballard said.
From there the Mules began to chip away at the lead with aggressive drives to the basket and strong finishes.
Just under the 11-minute mark Washburn got back-to-back baskets from junior forward Jonny Clausing to stem the tide.
Central Missouri kept attacking the basket and finally pulled within one after free throws from senior Cameron Hunter with 7:48 to play.
Over the next two minutes the Ichabods went on a 9-0 run, led by Geiman who got to the line six times and knocked down all six.
“In the first half I feel like we didn’t take advantage of how the refs were calling it. So that was one of our key points at half was to get downhill and take those bumps and get to the foul line,” Geiman said.
Both sides traded baskets all the way down to the two-minute mark with Washburn still up by 10.
The Mules got the lead down to five points with a minute to play after a turnover from the Ichabods.
Washburn’s defense ramped up, forcing a missed shot and turnover the next two possessions and on the other end it converted at the free throw line to leave with an 11-point win.
“We came up with every loose ball, every 50-50 ball,” Ballard said. “Those were huge, and maybe the difference in the game so I was proud of that.”
Geiman had a complete game with 22 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Harrell scored 18 and pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Lewis also finished in double figures with 11 points.
The win moved the Ichabods to 15-9 on the year and 12-6 in MIAA play with four games left.
Next up Washburn will begin a two-game road trip with Missouri Western State Feb. 17.
WASHBURN MEN 85, CENTRAL MISSOURI 74
Washburn 38 47 -- 85
Central Missouri 30 44 -- 74
Central Missouri (11-11 8-10)
Pinkley 6-11 3-3 18, Nelson 7-12 5-8 19, Todd 0-2 0-0 0, Gilbert 4-10 5-6 14, Sides 1-5 2-2 4, Hunter 5-13 8-10 19, Morris 0-1 0-3 0, Mayle 0-2 0-0 0, Fritz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 23-32 74.
WASHBURN (15-9 12-6)
Harrell 6-11 5-7 18, Deffebaugh 1-2 6-7 8, Geiman 7-14 6-6 22, Lewis 3-7 5-6 11, Keegan 3-5 0-0 6, Nelson 3-5 0-0 8, Clausing 4-6 0-0 8, Ellis 1-5 1-2 4, Braun 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 25-30 85.
3-point shots – Central Missouri 5-21 (Pinkley 3-7, Nelson 0-1, Todd 0-2, Gilbert 1-2, Sides 0-3, Hunter 1-5, Morris 0-1). Washburn 6-20 (Harrell 1-5, Geiman 2-5, Lewis 0-3, Keegan 0-2, Nelson 2-2, Ellis 1-3). Rebounds – Central Missouri 30 (Nelson 11), Washburn 38 (Harrell 8). Assists – Central Missouri 9 (Hunter 3), Washburn 17 (Geiman 10). Turnovers – Central Missouri 12, Washburn 11. Fouled out – Central Missouri (Pinkley). Technical fouls – None.
