Ichabods route Bethany College

Kyle Kelly

The No. 2 ranked Washburn Ichabods led from start to finish as they handled the Bethany Swedes with ease, 85-51.

 The Ichabods started the game strong with a  21 to 9 run during the first 7:42 of the game. Washburn forced the Swedes into 14 turnovers during the course of the first half that resulted in 16 points. The Ichabods went into halftime with a 17 points lead, 44-27.

 The Ichabods continued with a strong second half as they held Bethany to only either of 36 from the field as the Ichabods hit 15 of 35. Washburn outscored Bethany in the second half, 41-24, as the Ichabods went on to an 85-81 victory.

 10 Ichabods players say playing time during the game and all 10 of them scored. Senior guard, Martin Mitchell led the way for Washburn with a career-high tying 18 points as well as adding 6 boards. Four other Ichabod players got into double figures as Will McNeill and Zach Riggins each had 12 and Bobby Chipman and Kyle Wiggins scored 10. Only one Bethany player was able to get to double figures in scoring, as Trey Beachum had 10.

 There was a scary moment in the second half as junior forward, Alex North went up for an offensive rebound and was undercut by a Bethany player. North went down awkwardly and was down for a good few minutes before being taken to the locker room with two cuts on his head. North ended the game with four points and a game-high either rebounds.

 “We played good together and everyone came out aggressive, you know, but it was a good team win,” said Mitchell. “We had a player come down with a major injury tonight and that was unfortunate, but hopefully he can get better soon.”

 The Ichabods led the Swedes in total rebounds, 51 to 39. Washburn forced 20 turnovers while only giving away 10 themselves. The Ichabods shot 41.9% from the floor while limiting Bethany to 28.6%.

 “We’re excited about the way the season’s started so far,” said Riggins. “We played pretty good against Oklahoma and KU and our last game was pretty fun. This one we had a lot of dunks from Will so that’s always exciting. We’ve got a player of the year on our hands so we hope that we can hold up to his and our expectations and we want to win it all.”

 The Ichabods will play in Kansas City at the Sprint Center against Rockhurst on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving before traveling to St. Mary’s University in Texas for the Rattler Invitational on November 23rd.