By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn men's basketball coach Brett Ballard isn't exactly sure how his No. 5-ranked Ichabods came out of Saturday's game at Northeastern State with a victory.
But Washburn did just that, battling back from a 12-point second-half deficit to take an 85-84 overtime decision over the Riverhawks at the NSU Events Center in Tahlequah, Okla. and improve to 7-0 overall and in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Washburn senior guard Tyler Geiman scored a career-high 29 points in the Ichabods' 85-84 OT win at Northeastern State. [Photograph by Rex Wolf]
"They've got some injuries and they've been beat up and they came out and were the much better team for most of this game,'' Ballard said in his post-game interview on KTPK Radio. "Sometimes these first games out of the break are a little tricky and I'm disappointed in a lot of things, but at the end of the day, I told our team we're 7-0 and you've got to find a way every once in a while to win a game you probably shouldn't win.
"Not a ton of positves to take from this, but overall I'm happy that we won.''
It's safe to stay that the Ichabods wouldn't have won without a herculean performance from senior point guard Tyler Geiman, who scored a career-high 29 points, with 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals while playing 42 of 45 minutes.
"He was elite, he was the best player on the court,'' Ballard said. "That was a special performance and a special effort. We talked in the locker room with the team, but he deserves a ton of the credit.''
Even as good as Geiman was, it took key contributions from several other Ichabods to pull out Saturday's win.
Senior Rathen Carter canned a huge 3-pointer late in regulation to help WU get to overtime (tied at 74) after Hayden product Levi Braun had canned a pair of treys to keep the Ichabods within striking distance.
Jace Williams, who finished with 9 points, had 4 points in overtime while Jalen Lewis hit two free throws to give WU a 3-point lead with 11 seconds remaining in OT and Tyler Nelson clinched the win with a free throw with 2.6 seconds left before the Riverhawks hit a 3-pointer as time ran out.
"I think that just shows you that we've got some guys that can hoop and we didn't play well and still come out with a W, that's pretty impressive,'' Geiman said on KTPK.
Junior Jonny Clausing added 15 points for Washburn before fouling out.
Brad Davis led Northeastern with 22 points while Trey Sampson had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Washburn will be back on the road Thursday, facing top-ranked Northwest Missouri.
WASHBURN MEN 85, NORTHEASTERN STATE 84 (OT)
Washburn 26 48 11 — 85
Northeastern State 30 44 10 — 84
WASHBURN (7-0, 7-0)
Geiman 12-20 2-3 29, Lewis 0-4 3-4 3, McKee 0-0 0-0 0, Clausing 6-11 3-6 15, Maschoff 2-5 3-3 8, Deffebaugh 2-8 1-2 5, Carter 1-3 1-2 4, Braun 2-3 0-0 6, Nelson 1-5 4-6 6, Williams 3-4 3-4 9. Totals 29-63 20-30 85.
NORTHEASTERN STATE (1-7, 1-7)
Locke 3-7 9-12 15, Bailey 2-7 2-2 7, Sampson 8-11 0-2 18, Agu 5-7 2-2 14, Davis 6-21 6-7 22, Cook 0-1 3-3 3, Dotson 0-0 1-2 1, Prince 1-4 2-3 4. Totals 25-58 25-33 84.
3-point goals — Washburn 7-18 (Geiman 3-5, Braun 2-3, Maschoff 1-2, Carter 1-2, Lewis 0-2, Deffebaugh 0-2, Nelson 0-2), Northeastern State 9-25 (Davis 4-12, Agu 2-3, Sampson 2-4, Bailey 1-4, Locke 0-1, Cook 0-1). Rebounds — Washburn 32 (Geiman 9), Northeastern State 44 (Sampson 11). Assists — Washburn 16 (Geiman 9); Northeastern State 14 (Davis 8). Turnovers — Washburn 14, Northeastern State 26. Fouled out — Clausing, Prince. Technical fouls — Nelson, Williams, Northeastern State (team). Attendance — 227.
