The Washburn Ichabods took on and conquered the Newman Jets Saturday, Jan. 25 in Lee Arena. It was reminiscent of a competitive rivalry game that ended with an 80-67 win.

The Ichabods ran away with it in the second half – putting up 24 points in less than 10 minutes.

The victory is the third straight win over the Newman Jets.

The Ichabods came out strong against the Jets, jumping ahead 9-0 following tip-off. They hit three out of four baskets and forced three Jets turnovers. They displayed a defense that shut down the jets for the first 3:14 of the game.

The Jets fought back after the quick start by The Ichabods tying up the score with only 1:10 left in the half. However, Junior guard Drew Maschoff ruined the Jets tie with a two-point jump shot with only 29 seconds left in the first half – making the score 34-32.

Coach Ballard commented on the score at half-time with specific ideas for what the team needed improve on in the second half.

“We need to run a better offense and clean up our decision making. We’re challenging our guys to come out with more energy,” said Ballard.

The Ichabods came out of the locker room with that energy Ballard was seeking as they kept a lead throughout the second half. The Jets brought the Ichabod lead to only one point three different times.

Then, with a mid-half run, the Ichabods advanced their lead 71-55. The highest Ichabod was 18 points with a bit less than 4:00 of play. However, the Jets rallied at the end to score the last five points of the game, which brought us to the final score of 80-67 Ichabods. 

Junior guard Tyler Geiman had a team high of 19 points scored, with 13 coming from the second half. Geiman led the three other Ichabod players in the double-digit scores. Sophomore guard Jalen Lewis had 17 points, sophomore forward Jonny Clausing had 12 points, and junior guard Drew Maschoff finished with 11. 

The Ichabods nailed all 15 shots from the free-throw line in the second half.

Five out of eight shots in the first half gave the Ichabods an 87 percent shot rate from the free-throw line. The Ichabods out-rebounded the Jets 34-27, with Junior forward Jace Williams putting up a team high seven rebounds.   

“We needed to limit our turnovers,” said junior guard Tyler Geiman.

Ballard was adamant regarding the Ichabods’ schedule, the team’s dedication and how hard they work.

“We have the 25th toughest schedule in the country out of 311 Division teams,” said Ballard. “That’s top 10% in the country. I feel like we’ve been battle-tested with as good of a schedule as anybody in the country. These guys are fighting to get better.”

Edited by Adam White, Jason Morrison, Wesley Tabor