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No. 3 ranked Washburn University men's basketball closed out the regular season with a hard-earned 84-74 Senior Day win over Missouri Southern on Saturday, improving to 28-1 overall and 18-1 in the MIAA.

 

 

Washburn rode a flurry of 3-pointers and a second-half surge to win its school-record 29th game in a row in Lee Arena.

 

"Our defense was not great tonight,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "They had us on our heels and they're a really good offensive team. We got enough stops there in the second half, but we need to tighten that up.''

 

And Ballard said it was probably good for the Ichabods to get a test entering postseason, which will begin with the MIAA Tournament Friday in Kansas City, Mo. at the storied Municipal Auditorium.

 

"You don't love it as a coach, but that was really good for us to play a game with meaningful possessions, where there's a little bit of pressure,'' Ballard said. "And we had to execute and we had to get stops and had to dig in.

 

"Fortunately, we haven't had a ton of those this year and you're going to have those in the postseason, so I thought that was really good for us and it was good to see us respond.''  

 

With the Lions holding a 10-7 lead, the Ichabods ripped off a 20-4 run over a 4:27 stretch to take a 27-14 lead with 11:31 to play in the opening half.

 

However, the Lions responded with a 16-6 run of their own to tie the score at 41 with 2:37 to play before the break.

 

Washburn outscored the Lions 7-2 down the stretch, capped by a 3-pointer from junior Jack Bachelor, to take a 48-43 lead to the locker room at halftome.

 

The second half began with a 3-pointer from junior Jeremiah Jones and two more treys from Bachelor as the Ichabods stretched their lead to 57-43.

 

Missouri Southern responded with an 8-0 run to trim the margin to 59–58, but  Washburn delivered the knockout blow with a 25-9 run, including an 18-0 streak, over an 11:30 span of the second half that put the Ichabods up 84-67 with 2:53 remaining.

 

Bachelor led Washburn with a career-high 26 points and nine assists with no turnovers, shooting 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

 

 Senior Brady Christiansen added 18 points and 5 rebounds, including a pair of critical 3-pointers during Washburn decisive second-half run.

 

"We found a way to get it done,'' Christiansen said. "I think everyone stepped up and made big shots, especially Jack.

 

"As a senior, though, I was not letting us lose and I know everyone else was not letting us lose. It just feels incredible to win on Senior Night but also we're 28-1 and now the best time of the year is around so I couldn't be more proud of the guys and I'm just excited for what's next.''

 

Although he has another season left, Bachelor said it was also very important to him to make sure his senior teammates -- Christiansen, Sam Ungashick, Bryson Smith and Isaiah Saams-Hoy -- had a win to celebrate on Saturday.

 

"Those are my guys,'' Bachelor said. "Those are my brothers for life. I'll be in their weddings, they'll be in mine. I wasn't going to let those dudes go out bad, so I was giving it my all out there for them.''    

 

Jones finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals, while Smith contributed 13 points, three assists, and three rebounds.

 Missouri Southern was led by Isaiah Atwater with 22 points while Gavyn Elkamil scored 18 and Jaden Taylor finished with 15.

 

The Lions finished the game 10 of 20 from 3-point range and shooting 28 of 50 from the field for the game.

 

The Ichabods' 47 3-point attempts were a school record, topping the previous high of 41 set against Kansas Christian on Dec. 14, 2019.

 

Washburn's 17 made threes was the most in a game since connecting on 17 against Northeastern State Feb. 13, 2020.

 

The Ichabods' now 29-game homecourt winning streak breaks the record for the longest in program, snapping the 28-game streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995.

Washburn finished the regular season with only one loss for the first time since the 1925-26 season when the Ichabods went 12-1-1.