By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods bounced back from their first loss of the season Thursday night in Lee Arena, pulling away in the second half to rout No. 25-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith, 81-53.
Junior Jack Bachelor scored a game-high 16 points in Washburn's 81-53 MIAA win over Arkansas-Fort Smith Thursday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn improved to 23-1 overall and 13-1 in the MIAA while Arkansas-Fort Smith fell to 18-5, 9-5.
Washburn trailed 31-30 at halftime after shooting just 37.5 percent in the opening half, but took control after the break, outscoring the Lions 51-22.
"The first 10 minutes of the game we were stagnant,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "And then we finally got them moving and I did think we did a good job of sharing it (22 assists on 29 field goals).
"We got some transition, which was good and converted in transition, and then we were able to execute some stuff in the halfcourt and kind of got them chasing and played a little stronger as the game went along.''
The Ichabods opened the second half on an 11-2 surge to build a 41-33 lead and never let the margin dip below six the rest of the way.
A 10-0 run midway through the half stretched the Washburn advantage into double figures and a later 13-3 burst pushed the Ichabods' lead past 20.
The Ichabods shot 55.9 percent in the second half (19 of 34) and 46.8 percent for the game, compared to 34.4 percent shooting by the Lions, including nine of 29 shooting in the second half (31 percent).
Washburn also heated up from deep, finishing 11 of 32 from 3-point range (34.4 percent), while holding the Lions to six of 25 (24.0 percent), including three of 14 in the second half.
Washburn rode balanced scoring to the win as junior Jack Bachelor's 16 points led the way for the Ichabods.
Bachelor, who was battling through illness, hit four of six 3-point attempts, went five of nine overall and connected on both of his free throw attempts.
"I've got some kind of bug or something,'' Bachelor said. "Luckily, my mom (Angie) is a nurse so I can just call her and feel like a little baby again and she kind of takes care of me. I'm feeling better now and I'll be good by Saturday.''
And Bachelor played a lot better against the Lions than he felt.
"My teammates were finding me tonight and the shot felt good,'' Bachelor said. "We just played a really good second half as a team and got back to what we were about after that loss Saturday and that was good. I'm just really proud of the guys and our togetherness as a team.''
Senior Bryson Smith scored 15 points Thursday night as Washburn improved to 23-1 with an 81-53 win over No. 25 Arkansas-Fort Smith. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Jeremiah Jones (22) and Washburn outscored Arkansas-Fort Smith 51-22 in the second half Thursday on the way to an 81-53 MIAA win. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Bryson Smith added 15 points and four assists and junior Jeremiah Jones scored 14 points while sophomore Dillon Claussen had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
"Coach just told us (at halftime) that we have to come out here and play with an edge,'' Jones said. "This was a good team and every game's going to be hard every night and we had to turn up the pressure and get some stops.''
Smith said the Ichabods would rather take control of games from the outset, but he said the team also knows it's capable of coming from behind to get the job done.
"We don't want to do that all the time,'' Smith said. "Coach always preaches to come out and set the tone and I think in these next couple of games we're going to find a way to come out and set the tone, but this whole year we've shown that we're a second-half team, one of the best second-half teams in the country.
"So we knew we were going to come out in the second half and be ready to go.''
Washburn out-rebounded the Lions 46-28 while outscoring them in the paint, 36-26.
Jarren McAllister paced the Lions with 14 points on 7-12 shooting and was the only Lion to reach double figures.
The Ichabods held Fort Smith to more than 30 points below its season scoring average.
Washburn will host Northeastern State on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Lee Arena.
WASHBURN 81, ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH 53
