By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
MARYVILLE - The Missouri Western men's basketball team (14-10) lost to Washburn Friday, 101-72, in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament inside Bearcat Arena in Maryville.
The Griffons now have to wait to see if they get an invitation of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Missouri Western was sixth in the regional rankings early in the week. The top six teams in each region qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The seventh team in the regional rankings, Missouri Southern, has lost their last two in a row, including a 109-101 loss to Central Oklahoma in the MIAA quarterfinals Wednesday.
So even still, Western appears to be in decent shape.
The NCAA selection show will take place at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on NCAA.com. The Central Regional will be played at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota March 13-16.
"At this point, we don't control our destiny," Griffons coach Will Martin said on the path forward. "The committee does. We had an opportunity today to control that. Our team has put themselves in a good spot. We've battled a lot of adversity this year, but everybody has. The only way we control our destiny is if we had won (Friday) and won (Saturday)."
With the game tied at 4-4 early on Friday, Washburn first took control with a 9-0 run. Western trailed 23-15 in the first 10 minutes, but Washburn went on an 18-0 barrage and led by as many as 30 points in the first half. The Ichabods led 57-28 at halftime after making 9-of-14 deep in the first 20 minutes.
"I credit their kids," Martin said of Washburn's performance. "They played a tremendous game. They were efficient in every area of the game and they kicked our butt. That's what it is. End of the day, they knocked us in the chin, and we didn't have a response."
Missouri Western played better after halftime, but they could never get the deficit any lower than 25 in the second half.
The Griffons shot 51.7% (15-29) in the second half and made 5-of-14 three-pointers, but Washburn stayed hot the entire game, shooting 60% after halftime and 61.3% (38-62) for the game. The Ichabods finished going 14-of-25 from beyond the arc.
"They were the aggressors tonight," said Western's Caleb Bennett. "They landed the first punch, they played really fast and they dominated the boards. They just...outplayed us tonight. Hats off to them. They did an outstanding job."
The Griffons were also outrebounded 35-27.
Caleb Bennett led Missouri Western with 19 points and Q Mays scored 17. JaRon Thames and Alex John each added 11 points each for the Griffons.
Should Western get another game this season, Bennett's says Friday's loss can serve as a good learning experience.
"We just have to regroup and regather in these next couple of days," Bennett said. "Tonight was an example of what could happen if it were the last game of the season, and I think everyone felt that. We just hope we get into the tournament."
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