TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri Western men's basketball team won its third straight game Thursday as they beat No. 15 Washburn, 81-77, at Lee Arena.  It's the fourth straight win over the Ichabods and their first win in Topeka in the regular season since the 2010-11 season.  The Griffons improve to 11-8 and WU drops to 14-4 this season.
 
Missouri Western scored the first five points of the game Thursday and raced out to leads of 12-2, 19-4 and 22-6.  The two teams went back-and-forth as the Griffons led 36-20 with 4:07 left in the half before Washburn made a run.  The Ichabods went on a 12-0 run to pull within four points before the Western scored the final three points of the half to lead 39-32 at the break.
 
Missouri Western made 7-of-14 three-point field goals in the first 20 minutes as Will Eames led the way in the first half as he scored 16 points and was 4-of-5 from behind the arc.
 
The Griffons then scored the first eight points of the second half to extend their lead back to double figures.  It stayed that way for the next 12 minutes as Western's lead didn't get to single digits until just under six minutes left in regulation.  Tyrell Carroll made a step back three-pointer with four minutes to play to put MWSU ahead 72-61, but the Griffons struggled the close the game out because of missed free throws. 
 
Missouri Western went just 6-of-14 down the stretch at the line, while Washburn made almost every shot.  They went 6-of-6 from the field, 2-of-2 from three and 5-of-7 from the foul line in the final four minutes and got it to a one possession game with 45 seconds left, 75-72.  The Griffons had the ball and with the shot clock running down, Reese Glover made a fade away three-point shot at the top of the key to put the lead back to six points and seal the upset victory.
 
Glover finished with 15 points on 5-of-11 from behind the arc, while Tyrell Carroll took over after halftime.  He scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and handed out a season-high seven assists.  Eames finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.  Caleb Bennett added a career-high nine rebounds as the Griffons outrebounded Washburn, 41-37.
 
MWSU shot the ball 47.5% (28-59) from the field and went 11-of-21 from the three-point line.  They finished just 48.3% (14-29) from the foul line.
 
UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Emporia State (8-10) on Saturday as they play the Hornets at 7:00 p.m. inside White Auditorium.  The game will air on the Griffon Sports Network (680 AM/95.3 FM) and the MIAA Network.