The men’s basketball team traveled to Topeka on Saturday, Jan. 16 to take on Washburn.  

The Ichabods defeated the Gorillas (62-84).  

Despite the 20-point deficit, head coach Kim Anderson thought the gorillas played well during the game.  

“I thought we started off the game pretty well… (for) the first five minutes and then we had a little lull right before half-time and they had the lead at the half,” Anderson said. “…They (Washburn) knocked down a couple of threes and we didn’t convert on the other end. It ended up a 20-point game, but it was actually a lot closer than that. But I was obviously disappointed in not winning. It was a tough road swing going to Emporia and then going to Washburn. So, it’s something that we got to get better at, but I thought our guys played hard. They just didn’t play good enough to win.”  

A couple of players stood out to Anderson during the game.   

“Bobby Arthur-Williams had 17 points and ten rebounds, so he had a double-double which was good,” Anderson said. “Ryan Pippins had 15 points which was good to see because he’s been out for a couple of weeks with COVID. So, I think those two guys probably stood out the most. Hopefully we can get those performances again and play better this weekend.”  

The team played six games during the course of winter break. They defeated Missouri Western on Dec. 17 (87-84) and Baker (exhibition match) on Dec. 31 (85-70) before being defeated by Northwest Missouri on Jan. 2 (69-84). The Gorillas bounced back and defeated Missouri Southern on Jan. 9 (83-67) before being defeated by Emporia State on Jan. 14 (72-75). Their overall record sits at 5-6.  

“Well, we do pretty well in segments,” Anderson said. “We do a good job defensively, we do a good job offensively, but we haven’t been able to consistently put that together for 40 minutes. So, yeah, we do some things well, but we don’t do them long enough. So, we have to do a better job, I think, in the future of trying to put together a consistent 40-minute effort.”  

Anderson hopes to see an increase in the team’s consistency in the upcoming games.  

“Well, I’m hoping we’ll bounce back and play consistently for 40 minutes,” Anderson said. “I hope we shoot the ball well and we need to do a better job defensively. When it gets down to the end (and) the game is close, we got to make good decisions and I’m hoping we’ll be able to do that this weekend.”  

The Gorillas’ next game is at home against Fort Hayes on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 3:30 p.m. in Whetzel Court at John Lance Arena.