1.19.12 MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Rally From 19 Down at Malone to Keep Cup

Men's Basketball, 2012-01-19

Walsh (16-3) rallied from a 19-point first half deficit to defeat Malone University (8-10) 99-94 before 1,030 fans at a packed Osborne Hall in the 48th Annual Mayors' Cup Game.  The win was the fifth straight for the Cavs in the Cup Series, where they hold a 29-19 advantage.  The Cavs lead the all-time series 65-40 and have won 25 of the last 28 meetings.  The win was also the fourth straight for the Cavs.  Walsh is home on Saturday against Cedarville University at 4 pm.  The game will be broadcast live on NewsTalk 640 AM WHLO.

Malone led 3-2 when they scored the next 18 points to take a 21-2 lead with 13:47 left in the half.  The Pioneers connected on four of six three-pointers in building the lead. 

Walsh would climb out of the hole behind the shooting of Ron Kinney (6-7, Sr., Cleveland, OH/Rhodes) and finally cut the lead to single digits at 36-28 with 6:14 to play in the half.   Malone pushed the lead back to 15 points (48-33), before the Cavs scored six points to close the half on back-to-back three's from Kinney and Ryan Vanderhorst (6-3, So., New Knoxville, OH/HS).  Kinney finished the first half with 16 points on 4-5 from three point.  Rian Burrell (6-3, Fr., Zanesville, OH/HS) added nine first half points.  Walsh was 6-10 from behind the arc in the first half, while Malone was 9-19.  Cory Veldhuizen scored 14 first half points for Malone.

Walsh came out of the gate quickly in the second half with a dunk from Kinney on an alley-oop from Brad DuPont (6-0, So., Massillon, OH/Jackson/Wheeling Jesuit), a three from Kinney and a dunk and lay-up from L. J. Sutton (6-7, Sr., Youngstown, OH/Cardinal Mooney) to tie the game at 50 at the 17:37 mark. 

The second half would feature five ties and seven lead changes.  Walsh took their first lead at 55-54 on a Cameron Mitchell (6-4, So., Cincinnati, OH/Taft) three at 16:49. 

Malone built a 75-71 lead with 8:19 when the Cavs went to work.  Walsh regained the lead on a Jeff Copeland (6-5, Fr., Toledo, OH/St. John's Jesuit) and DuPont three at 76-75 with 7:43 left.  Malone's Che Richardson then hit a jumper to give Malone their final lead at 77-76 at the 7:07 mark. 

Walsh tied the game at 77 on a Sutton free throw at 5:04, and then took the lead for good at 80-77 on a Vanderhorst three.

Walsh led 85-81 at the 2:26 mark Richardson hit his season-high fourth three to cut the Walsh lead to 85-84.  It would be as close as Malone would come the rest of the way.

Despite DuPont and Sutton fouling out, Walsh outscored Malone 14-10 the rest of the way, with Burrell hitting four free throws and scoring on a layup.

Walsh finished the night 16-22 from three-point, including 10-12 in the second half.  The Cavs outscored Malone 58-46 in the second half and shot 62% from the floor in the half and 53% (32-60) for the night.

Ron Kinney led all scorers with a career high 29 points. Kinney was 9-14 from the field, 7-8 from three-point and 4-4 from the line.  Burrell added 19 points and was 7-7 from the line.  Sutton scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out.  Vanderhorst had 12 points and DuPont 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

BOXSCORE