ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Griffon Men's Basketball got a 24-point showing from the bench but fell 83-77 to the Washburn Ichabods at home on Saturday evening inside Civic Arena.

The Griffons (8-3, 3-3 MIAA) had three players score in double figures, led by JaRon Thames, who had 16 points. Reese Glover tacked on 14 points off of the bench, and Zion Swader helped out with 14 more.

The Missouri Western State offense made hay from beyond the arc, knocking down eight threes on 20 attempts. Glover hit four treys for the Griffons in the contest.

Missouri Western did a great job disrupting Washburn's (6-4, 2-2 MIAA) shots in the contest, coming away with eight blocks. Taye Fields' six rejections led the way individually, marking the second-most blocks in a single Griffon game and falling just four shy of the program record. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
After falling behind 11-5, Western went on a 7-0 run with 14:54 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Kiani Saxon, to take a 12-11 lead. The Griffons then surrendered that lead and entered halftime down 44-39.

Washburn kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 62-47 advantage before Western went on a 15-0 run to even the score at 62-62 with 6:25 to go in the contest. Eventually putting the run to 17-0 and taking a 64-62 lead, the Griffons could not turn their rally into a victory, as the Ichabods used a 10-0 run to hand Western the 83-77 loss.

GAME NOTES

• The Griffons shot well from 3-point range, knocking down eight of 20 long-range attempts.
• Western recorded 15 total assists in the game.
• The Griffon bench came alive by scoring 24 points to its scoring output.
• Western got a game-high 15 rebounds from Fields.

UP NEXT
Western heads home for the holidays and returns on Dec. 30 for a matchup with Avila (2-6) of the NAIA at 3:30 p.m. back inside the MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph.