Washburn takes to the Final Four

Jayme Thompson, Editor-in-Chief – Indigo Magazine • March 26, 2025

The Washburn crowd celebrates the Ichabods’ quarterfinal win over Lenoir-Rhyne. The Ichabods were able to shut down the Bears and advance to the NCAA DII Final Four.

Morgan Albrecht
Sam Ungashick, junior guard, and Dillon Claussen, freshman forward, set up a defensive trap for a Lenoir-Rhyne University player. The Washburn defense helped hand the Bears a 90-78 loss.

Morgan Albrecht
Jack Bachelor, sophomore guard, drives past a Lenoir-Rhyne defender toward the basket. Bachelor’s drive was shut down before he could find a path to the basket.

Morgan Albrecht
Jacob Hanna, senior guard, rips through the paint to score a layup. Hanna was fouled while on the way to the basket and secured three points on the and-one opportunity.

Morgan Albrecht
Hanna shoots an and-one free throw. Hanna went 6-7 from the free-throw line and contributed 12 points to Washburn’s 90.

Morgan Albrecht
Brayden Shorter, sophomore guard, beats a Lenoir-Rhyne defender off the dribble. Shorter passed the ball off to Claussen who scored a layup giving Shorter his second of three assists on the night.

Morgan Albrecht
Michael Keegan, senior guard, contests a Lenoir-Rhyne shot. Keegan was unsuccessful in his block attempt and Lenoir-Rhyne scored off the shot.

Morgan Albrecht
Keegan leaps toward the hoop for a layup. Keegan secured the points, giving him four points for the game.

Morgan Albrecht
Bachelor dumps the ball across the lane to Claussen for an assist. Bachelor recorded nine of the Ichabod’s 22 assists.

Morgan Albrecht
Claussen goes up for the one-hand jam. Claussen led the Washburn offense alongside Shorter with 17 and 18 points, respectively.

Morgan Albrecht
Andrew Orr, senior forward, pulls up for a jump shot. Orr hit the shot putting the Ichabods up 83-69.

Morgan Albrecht
The Washburn crowd celebrates the Ichabods’ quarterfinal win over Lenoir-Rhyne. The Ichabods were able to shut down the Bears and advance to the NCAA DII Final Four.

Morgan Albrecht
Sam Ungashick, junior guard, and Dillon Claussen, freshman forward, set up a defensive trap for a Lenoir-Rhyne University player. The Washburn defense helped hand the Bears a 90-78 loss.

Morgan Albrecht

Washburn University battled Lenoir-Rhyne University in the NCAA DII quarterfinal round and now advances to the Final Four after a 90-78 win.

The quarterfinal game marked the second time in Washburn history for the team to have a season of 30 or more games. The first time was in the 1986-1987 season when the team won 35.

Lenoir-Rhyne gave Washburn a run for its money and didn’t give up the win easily.

Brett Ballard, head coach, and the Ichabods credited the home crowds for the motivation and drive to get through the regional tournament successfully. However, in this game there wasn’t a huge crowd cheering for Washburn, only a small section with an enthusiastic atmosphere. Mr. Ichabod was sure to attend, and even made the awkward dad dance cam on the jumbotron.

Washburn held the lead the entire game and put up a total of 90 points.

Washburn’s top scorers of the night were Brayden Shorter, senior guard, who put up 18 points, and Dillon Claussen, freshman forward, who put up 17.

“Coach is always preaching to everyone to stay ready, so you never know when it might be your game,” Claussen said.

The second half began with Lenoir-Rhyne not far behind the Ichabods at a score of 46-40.

The first points of the half were put up by Jack Bachelor, sophomore guard, who swished a 3-pointer right after a failed attempt by Lenoir-Rhyne on its opening possession.

“Jack got 12 points and nine assists, so I thought he did a nice job of controlling things in the ball screens and made some nice drop passes to our bigs to allow them to get some layups,” Ballard said.

Andrew Orr, senior forward, was in foul trouble early in the second half, which allowed Claussen more minutes and more opportunities to put up points for the team.

“We obviously don’t want [Andrew] to get foul trouble, but it’s nice to have a backup that can come off the bench and play about the same level that Andrew gave us,” Ballard said.

With 8:17 left in the game, the Ichabods had a total of nine fouls and the Bears had four. The game ended with both teams having 10 fouls for the second half, and Lenoir-Rhyne got half of those within the last 3.5 minutes. The back-to-back fouls prevented the team from catching up to Washburn even though they had a controllable difference in points.

The end of the game brought a 90-78 score and allowed the Ichabods to advance to the Final Four.

“There’s only four teams left out of 300 … So, just hearing that final buzzer, looking up, seeing [those] scores, and hearing the crowd, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Shorter said.

Washburn will play Nova Southeastern University March 27 at 8:30 p.m. to compete for a spot in the NCAA DII men’s basketball championship game.

Edited by Morgan Albrecht

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About the Contributors

Jayme Thompson, Editor-in-Chief – Indigo Magazine

Hey everyone, I’m Jayme! I am a senior pursuing a double major of psychology and forensic investigations. Even though it’s not tied to either of my majors, I joined Student Media because of my appreciation for journalism and the people in the field. I work as a content creator, copy editor and the editor-in-chief for Indigo Magazine. After graduating, I plan to pursue a graduate degree in forensic science and a job within that career field.

Morgan Albrecht, Sports Editor/Copy Chief

Hi, I’m Morgan! I’m a senior mass media major with a concentration in journalism. I enjoy writing and creating content of all types. I hope to pursue a career in the sports media field. I grew up watching and playing sports all the time but my favorite sports to report on are volleyball, basketball, baseball, and softball.