The Washburn Ichabods slayed the Lindenwood Lions with a final score of 78-60. Washburn got an early lead in the game and never let it go. In the first half with 6:05 left on the clock. The Ichabod’s were up 30-17. This half finished at 41-26.

Two things can be speculated from this. First, the defense being performed was more than proficient. Secondly, the Lions could not hit their shots. Their overall field goal percentage was not bad and ended at 40%. However, this could not keep up with the Ichabod’s percentage of 57.1%. The biggest difference in the first half performances had to do with the teams outside game. Lindenwood only went 2-11 on three-point attempts. While Washburn went a powerful 7-10. The ability to knock down these attempts is what caused the biggest separation in the teams scores by the end of the half.

A big help to the accuracy of these 3-pointers goes to one particular player, Cameron Wiggins. By the end of the game knocked down 3-4 of the three point shots, and scored some 2-pointers as well. When asked what gave him the hot hand he humbly accredited his teammates. “The biggest thing is my teammates are really good passers, and they are unselfish. If there’s an open man they’ll hit him” said Wiggins. Based on the well-developed ball movement and the percentage of three’s the team hit as a whole. Wiggins response would be hard to argue against. Not to mention the big guy, Brady Skeen, who plays down low attributed five assists.

The second half was completely different than the first half for both teams. The Lions actually increased their 3-point percentage to 33.3%. This being a big improvement from 18.2%. While this was happening, Washburn decided to switch their focus to the inside in order to get better shot attempts. Their already great field-goal percentage improved from 57.1% to 63.2%. This came from working the ball around more and driving the ball when found necessary.

A person who played a big role down low was Brady Skeens. Whom just caught fire in the second half. Going 3-3 inside and also nailing a few of his free throws. He earned those free throws by playing hard down low and it showed in the fact that he was able to take nine attempts. For Skeens is wasn’t just what he could do with the ball in his hands, for this game he was an all-around player. He had zero turnovers, three blocks, and eight total rebounds. He was very close to a double-double, and did his job defensively getting two of those blocks in the second half.

When asked what lead to a performance like he gave a simple response. He said, “Staying aggressive. They’ve been telling me to attack the basket, and that’s what I did.” Staying aggressive may seem minor, but in keeping a lead it is very vital.

The game ended at 78-60 and there are a few factors to make this happen. I will not say that it was hustle completely, because there were a couple of players hitting shots in the second half that were quiet. An example being Jackson Price for the Lions hit back to back threes to make it look like a game hasn’t ended. The biggest thing had to of been shot selection. The lions shot a total of 29 threes’ but only hitting eight. While the Ichabod’s only shot 17, and hit 10. Missing that many shots for an opportunity of a better shot inside cost the Lions quite a few processions to capitalize. There was just a few of these attempts that worked around the perimeter better. The lead could have been put to single digits. All this lead to Washburn’s first Conference win.