Strong first half from Gorillas hands Ichabods loss at Pittsburg State

February 3, 2007

Box Score | Season Stats


PITTSBURG, Kan. – Washburn made just five first half field goals on the way to a 72-61 loss at Pittsburg State Saturday night. The loss dropped the Ichabods to 7-14 and 3-9 in the MIAA as they lost for the second straight time. The Gorillas improved to 12-9 and 5-7 in the conference. Washburn will play its third game in six days when it travels to Southwest Baptist Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. game.

WU’s senior forward Frank Phifer, starting for the first time in five games, scored 25 points, one off his season high for his fifth game scoring 20 or more this year. He was 8-of-13 from the field and 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Junior guard Andrew Meile was second in the team with 14 points after hitting three 3-pointers and junior guard Grant Hargett scored 10.

The Gorillas led by 13, 36-23 at halftime after shooting 52 percent in the opening half. The Ichabods led by two twice in the first five minutes but shot just 23 percent in the half to fall behind and never lead again.

The Gorillas started the second half with a field goal from Ed Morris to give them a 15-point lead, their largest of the night. Washburn then went on a 13-4 run to cut it to six, 42-36 at 15:28. A pair of free throws two minutes later from Phifer made it a five-point game.

Washburn hung close and narrowed it to five again on a lay-up from Meile with eight minutes remaining. The Gorillas then went on a 12-2 run to give them a 15-point lead with 2:11 remaining. The Ichabods were 1-of-6 during the run and turned the ball over three times.

Pittsburg State didn’t take a second half free throw until the 9:43 mark then went 13-of-19 from the line to finish the game. The Gorillas controlled the boards with a 48-26 advantage on rebounds, including 18 offensive ones for 12 second chance points.

Carlos Taylor led PSU with 16 points while Morris chipped in 15.

Notes:
• Frank Phifer had two blocks to total 37 on the season. He passed assistant coach Ewan Auguste and moved into sixth on the WU single-season chart. It was his 11th game with multiple blocks.
• The Ichabods suffered their first regular season sweep against the Gorillas since 1998-99. They have lost four straight on the road in the series.
• Washburn used its eighth different starting lineup this year as Andrew Meile and Grant Hargett started at guard and Kyle Fisher, Mamadou Sy and Frank Phifer started at forward. Fisher got his first start of the year and eighth of his career while Sy started his first as an Ichabod.
• Washburn had its lowest rebounding total of the year, 22 and gave up its highest amount to an opponent at 48. Its previous low was 27 at UNLV and the previous high was 45, given up twice this year, last to Central Missouri.
• The Ichabods out-scored PSU 38-36 in the second half and shot 45 percent while the Gorillas shot just 32 percent. Washburn has out-scored its opponent in the second half eight times this year and is 4-4 when doing so.
• Sy made his first 3-pointer of the year in just his second attempt.
• After 157 meetings between these two schools Washburn leads the series 86-71.