Mar 07, 2021

Washburn's Tyler Geiman hits buzzer-beater from midcourt, Ichadods stun Northwest in MIAA title

Posted Mar 07, 2021 2:20 AM
Washburn's Tyler Geiman (middle) celebrates with his teammates after draining a midcourt, buzzer beater three in a 69-68 win over No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State on Saturday night in the MIAA tournament championship. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Washburn's Tyler Geiman (middle) celebrates with his teammates after draining a midcourt, buzzer beater three in a 69-68 win over No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State on Saturday night in the MIAA tournament championship. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest head coach Ben McCollum and the Bearcats walk off the floor after Washburn took the MIAA tournament title, 69-68, on Saturday in Maryville. The Ichabods won on a buzzer beater three-pointer from senior Tyler Geiman. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest head coach Ben McCollum and the Bearcats walk off the floor after Washburn took the MIAA tournament title, 69-68, on Saturday in Maryville. The Ichabods won on a buzzer beater three-pointer from senior Tyler Geiman. Photo by Tommy Rezac.

By TOMMY REZAC

St. Joseph Post

MARYVILLE - After an uncharacteristically slow start, it seemed like Northwest Missouri State had done just enough to win another tight ballgame against Washburn.

Junior and Lafayette St. Joseph alum Diego Bernard drained two free throws with 2.7 seconds left, giving the Bearcats a 68-66 lead.

A sixth straight MIAA tournament title was so close, that Northwest and their home crowd in Maryville could practically taste it.

But in March basketball, and in Washburn-Northwest matchups this season, one can expect the unexpected.

Washburn senior and first-team MIAA selection Tyler Geiman sank a 3/4 court, buzzer beater three-pointer to give the Ichabods a 69-68 win over No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State (22-3) in the MIAA Tournament championship game on Saturday night in Bearcat Arena.

"It's just...is what it is," Northwest head coach Ben McCollum said on the final shot. "It's just one of those games. If you said before the game, 'He has to hit a 3/4 court shot to win the game,' you'd probably take (those odds). You'd probably win nine times out of 10, and 99 times out of 100. It's just basketball. It's just one of those things."

Washburn (19-6) won its sixth MIAA tournament title as a program, and the Ichabods got their second win inside Bearcat Arena this season.

The Ichabods defeated Northwest, 84-82, in overtime back on Jan. 7 in Maryville before the Bearcats returned the favor on Feb. 20 in Topeka, 88-85. A game that also took extra time to decide.

All three Northwest-Washburn tilts this season have been decided by three points or less. Two of them decided in overtime, and one of them decided by a buzzer beater.

A fourth matchup in the NCAA Tournament is not out of the realm of possibility, as both teams are a lock for the Central Regional.

"I think it's just the energy and the effort they bring every single day," Northwest senior Ryan Hawkins said of the Ichabods' toughness. "In the three times we've played them this year, it's been competitive and it's been physical. They come ready to compete."

The Ichabods certainly came ready to compete early in Saturday's game, holding Northwest's offense to just 23.1 percent shooting in the first half, including 2-of-14 from three.

The Ichabods led 30-19 at halftime, marking the Bearcats' lowest scoring half of basketball since a 47-42 loss to Minnesota State-Moorhead in March 2015.

"I didn't think we came out very ready in the first half," McCollum said. "(We) just were terrible, honestly. I think we thought it was going to be easy, and it's not. We were terrible defensively to start. I don't know what was going on in that first half. I'm disappointed that we dug ourselves a hole."

The Ichabods led by as many as 13 in the second half before the Bearcats mounted a charge. A 12-5 run pulled Northwest to within one at 45-44 with 8:54 to play.

Northwest took its first lead of the second half at 53-50 on a three-pointer from junior Trevor Hudgins with 5:55 left. Hudgins then hit another triple to put Northwest ahead 56-52 with 5:28 remaining.

Hudgins, the MIAA Player of the Year, finished with 18 points Saturday, including four made threes.

Washburn's Connor Deffebaugh responded, hitting a triple from the left corner with 4:55 left to cut the Bearcat lead down to one.

A bit later, Washburn's Jalen Lewis gave the Ichabods a three-point cushion at 60-57 with 3:52 to play.

Lewis won MIAA tournament MVP and scored a game-high 26 points Saturday, including a 4-of-8 clip from deep.

Saturday's game featured 10 lead changes and seven ties in total. The lead changed five times in the last six minutes alone.

Ryan Hawkins hit two sets of free throws with 2:25 and 1:44 left respectively to cut the Washburn lead down to 64-63.

Freshman Byron Alexander gave Northwest a 65-54 lead with 1:15 to play on a pair of free throws he made.

Washburn's Will McKee turned the ball over with 55.4 to play, but Alexander threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds play, and Geiman made a layup to give the edge back to Washburn, 66-65, with 46 seconds left.

Geiman finished with 23 points.

With both teams in the double-bonus late, Hawkins got back to the foul line and drained one of two free throws with 32.5 seconds left to tie the game at 66. 

On the ensuing Washburn possession, Hudgins appeared to make the defensive play of the game when he blocked an attempted go-ahead three-point attempt from Geiman in the final 10 seconds.

Bernard grabbed the rebound, and got fouled at midcourt with 2.7 seconds left to set the stage for the final drama.

Hawkins wishes he could have a few of his own shots back, but he believes Northwest did everything they could in the second half, especially on defense, to put themselves in position to win.

"I wouldn't change a thing," Hawkins said, after leading his team with 23 points, including a 14-of-18 effort at the free throw line. "Making them throw up a prayer with two seconds left. I mean, 99 percent of the time that doesn't go in. Washburn played a great game. We just didn't finish down the stretch there.

"Offense left something to be desired. I didn't finish a lot of layups there at the end. I had a couple of and-ones I just didn't make. I missed two free throws down the stretch. Stuff like that can come back to bite you."

Northwest and Washburn will continue their seasons at the Central Region Tournament, which will be held March 13-16 at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

The NCAA selection show is set for Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. As of this week, Northwest would be the No. 1 seed, Washburn would be No. 3 and fellow MIAA foe Missouri Western would be No. 6.

As hard as Saturday's result was, Northwest can take heart knowing that the ultimate goal is still out there.

"This isn't our season," Hawkins said of Saturday's defeat. "I mean, you play and compete to win everything you can. Now, we've got a week to prepare for regionals. Every time we play Washburn, we play really good afterwards, so that's one positive to come out of this."

Northwest junior Trevor Hudgins fires for three in the first half during the MIAA championship against Washburn at Bearcat Arena on Saturday. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest junior Trevor Hudgins fires for three in the first half during the MIAA championship against Washburn at Bearcat Arena on Saturday. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest Missouri State sophomore Luke Waters goes in for a layup against two defenders in Saturday's MIAA championship game at Bearcat Arena. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest Missouri State sophomore Luke Waters goes in for a layup against two defenders in Saturday's MIAA championship game at Bearcat Arena. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest's Ryan Hawkins (33) tries to drive against Washburn's Tyler Geiman during Saturday's MIAA championship game at Bearcat Arena. Photo by Tommy Rezac.
Northwest's Ryan Hawkins (33) tries to drive against Washburn's Tyler Geiman during Saturday's MIAA championship game at Bearcat Arena. Photo by Tommy Rezac.

You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.