By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The No. 2-ranked Washburn University men trailed for the first time this season at the halftime break, but turned up the defense and controlled turnovers in the second half on the way to a 76-62 win over Texas Permian Basin in its non-conference finale.
Senior Andrew Orr led five double-figure scorers for Washburn with 16 points in Wednesday's 76-62 win over . [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods improved 11-0 on the season and returns to MIAA play at Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Warrensburg.
Washburn trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, its largest deficit of the season, with 1:45 to go in the half before the Ichabods closed the frame on a 7-2 run to enter the locker room trailing 36-32.
The Ichabods turned the ball over eight times leading to eight points for the Falcons. Overall, there were nine lead changes in the first half.
The Ichabods outscored the Falcons 17 to 9 in the first 5:15 of the second half to take a 49-45 lead as Jack Bachelor scored eight points.
The Falcons (8-3) took their last lead of the game at 51-50 with 12:03 to play on a 3-pointer by Alex Matthews, who had a game-high 26 points, before Andrew Orr gave the Ichabods a 52-51 lead.
Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 14 points in the second half, holding the Falcons to 9 of 25 shooting, while the Ichabods heated up from 44 percent to 57 percent in the stanza, outscoring UTPB by 18.
Orr led the Ichabods with 16 points, scoring 14 in the second half, and Bachelor scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
Brayden Shorter went 5 of 6 from deep to score 15 points while Jacob Hanna finished with 12 and Brady Christiansen had 10. Michael Keegan scored four points while adding a game-high nine rebounds with four assists. Hanna had five assists.
Matthews was the only Falcon in double figures, going 10 of 17 from the field.
Washburn was 10 of 16 from 3-point range in the game, hitting 5 of 7 attempts in the second half. The Ichabods shot 51 percent for the game (29 of 57). The Falcons were 42 percent for the game for the field (23 of 55).
