By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 1-ranked Washburn University men's basketball remained perfect on the season Wednesday night with an 87–75 road win at Missouri Western, improving to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in the MIAA.
Senior Sam Ungashick came off the bench to score 18 points in Wednesday's 87-75 MIAA road win over Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods never trailed, building a commanding 48-29 first-half lead, and then withstood a second-half push by the Griffons to secure the victory.
Washburn shot a scorching 65.5 percent from the floor in the opening half (19 of 29) and knocked down 4 of 9 attempts from 3-point range while scoring 48 first-half points.
Missouri Western, meanwhile, struggled to find rhythm early, shooting just 25.0 percent (8 of 32) in the first half.
Missouri Western (11-5 overall, 3-2 MIAA) played its best basketball after halftime, shooting 53.3 percent in the second half and outscoring Washburn 46-39 over the final 20 minutes while dropping to 6-1 in home games this season.
The Griffons trimmed the Ichabod advantage into the mid-teens on multiple occasions.
However, each time the Griffons threatened, Washburn answered, keeping Western at arm's length.
Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, going 6 of 10 from the field for the game while adding eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Senior Sam Ungashick provided a big lift off the bench with a season-high 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and junior Jack Bachelor added 16 points while senior Brady Christiansen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds, helping Washburn win the rebounding battle, 42–24.
As a team, Washburn finished the night shooting 56.4 percent from the field (31 of 55), 33.3 percent from 3-point range (7 of 21) and 72.0 percent at the free-throw line (18 of 25). Missouri Western shot 38.7 percent overall and just 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Washburn returns to the road on Saturday, continuing its four-game road trip at Northwest Missouri (3:30 p.m. start).
Wednesday's win was the fifth in a row by the Ichabods over the Griffons while improving to 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.
