The Washburn men’s basketball team lost the first round of the MIAA tournament game to the Northeastern State Riverhawks Tuesday night. It was a very close game, but Washburn fell just short of victory.

“It was an intense game,” said Forrest Evans, sophomore music education major. “There was a lot of passion on the court and in the stands, and it was exciting to see how the scores kept going back and forth.”

The scores were tight for the majority of the game. In the first quarter the Riverhawks put on an decent lead, ending the first half at 43 points to Washburn’s 38.

Not long into the third quarter Washburn began to close the gap, fighting their way to a 52 point tie when the clock struck 13:00. Soon after, the Ichabods finally managed to break into the lead with 58 points to the Riverhawks’ 57. Then, after another interval of aggressive plays, the two teams arrived at a 69 point tie when the clock reached around 4:00.

In the end though, the Riverhawks won by four. The final score of the night was Home: 75-79. Even so, the loss did little to stem Washburn pride.

“We have season tickets,” said Ron Martinek, Washburn fan. “Greg [Martinek’s son] likes to sit up front to be near to the band, but my favorite part is definitely watching the games. We love Washburn basketball.”

So, though neither the men’s or women’s basketball team managed to make it to the second round of the MIAA Tournament this year, there will always be a next year- and there will always be fans to cheer on the Washburn teams.