By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 25-ranked Washburn men's basketball team will open postseason at Lee Arena, hosting Rogers State in a 6 p.m. MIAA Tournament quarterfinal contest.
Washburn, 16-6 overall and in the MIAA, is coming off a 73-70 comeback win over Emporia State last Saturday, rallying from a 14-point halftime deficit, while Rogers State (11-11, 11-11) suffered a 78-76 MIAA loss at Northeastern State on Saturday.
The Ichabods swept the two regular-season meetings against the Hillcats winning 81-74 on Dec. 12 in Claremore, Okla. and taking an 88-77 home victory on Feb. 4.
The Ichabods have never faced the Hillcats in the conference tournament.
Senior Tyler Geiman leads WU in scoring (21 point per fame), assists (6.2 average), rebounds (6.5 average), steals (1.7 average) and minutes (36.3 per game).
Junior Jalen Lewis is averaging 12.5 points and has hit 54 of 110 3-point attempts while sophomore Tyler Nelson averages 11.4 points and junior Jonny Clausing 9.9 points and 4 rebounds.
Geiman has scored 1,308 career points and he needs 15 points to crack WU's top 10 for career scoring. The late Greg "Buzz'' Wilson is currently No. 10 with 1,323 points.
Geiman notched the first triple-double in Washburn history last week with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over Northeastern State.
Davin Pullum leads Rogers State with a 16-point scoring average while Darraja Parnell averages 12.8 points, Jett Sternberger 12.7 and Brewster Peacock 10.7.
The winner of Wednesday's Rogers State-Washburn game will advance to the final four of the MIAA Tournament to be played at the highest remaining seed winning on Wednesday night. The semifinals will be played on Friday and the championship game will be Saturday.