PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University men's basketball team's comeback bid came up short by a point in a hard fought 80-79 loss to Washburn University Saturday (Jan. 15) at John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court.

The Gorillas (4-12, 3-7 MIAA) trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half, but Pitt State battled back to trim the margin to two points, 77-75, on Ryan Pippens' 3-pointer with 3:44 to play in the game.

The Ichabods (10-6, 7-3 MIAA) stretched their margin back to 79-75 on two free throws by Tyler Nelson with 1:50 to go, but Pitt State's Cameron Huefner made an inside basket to make it 79-77 with 52 seconds remaining.

Tyler Geiman, who led all scorers with 28 points in the game, made one of two free throws for WU with 23 ticks left for an 80-77 lead. Pitt State's Bobby Arthur-Williams Jr. countered with two free throws with 7.7 seconds left. Geiman then turned the ball over, giving the Gorillas a chance at the win but Iziah James' 3-point field goal from the left baseline came up short.

Pippens led the Gorillas with a career high 22 points, while Arthur-Williams Jr. finished with 18 points - 16 in the first half. Huefner added 14 points and seven rebounds, while James also finished in double figures with 11 points.

Connor Deffenbaugh added 20 points for the Ichabods; and Nelson also finished with 11.