Men's Basketball | 3/2/2018 3:25:02 PM

Kansas City, Mo. –  Cameron Wiggins hit eight three pointers and the No. 3 Washburn Ichabods took out No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney 75-65 to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round of the 2018 MIAA Basketball Tournament inside Municipal Auditorium.
 
Washburn (21-8) was led by Wiggins’ near record performance with 27 points as his eight threes were one off the single-game tournament record. Javion Blake had 11 points, while Brady Skeens had ten points and 11 rebounds.
 
Nebraska-Kearney (16-14) had three score in double-figures led by 18 points and seven rebounds from Trey Lansman.
 
The two teams traded baskets early on as the Lopers carried a slim lead through the first ten minutes of the half. A three from the Ichabods’ Blake tied the game at 17 with 9:25 to go and a layup from Skeens the next trip down gave Washburn a 19-17 lead.
 
The Lopers tied it at 19 on a layup from Lansman, but Washburn went ahead with 8:11 left and a three from Will McKee with 2:12 left put the Ichabods up 35-24. A three from the Lopers’ Lane Rohrich made the score 37-29 at the break.
 
A jumper from the Ichabods’ Randall Smith gave WU a 42-32 lead with 17:17 left in the second half, and a three-point play from Skeens kept the lead at ten (49-39). Back-to-back-to-back threes from Wiggins, the last with 8:51 to go, made the score 59-43.
 
A three from Lansman cut the lead back to ten (61-51) with 6:23 to go, but a three from Wiggins and another jumper after a steal pushed the lead back to 13 (68-55) with 4:47 to go.  A pair of freebies from Tyler Geiman pushed the lead to 15 as Washburn cruised to the win.
 
Washburn moves on to play the winner of Missouri Southern and Fort Hays State on Saturday at 6 pm in the semifinal round of the tournament.