December 5, 2005

Athletics > December 5, 2005

Monday, December 5, 2005

Wed. 7 Men's Basketball (H) Shawnee State University 7 pm / AM 900 WCER

Sat. 10 Women's Basketball (H) Urbana University 2 pm

Men's Basketball (H) Urbana University 4 pm / AM 900 WCER

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (5-2, 1-0) Win AMC Opener, Extend Win Streak to Three

NAIA No. 14 (new poll released Wednesday) and defending national champion Walsh (5-2, 1-0) extended its modest winning streak to three games with two wins last week. Walsh won its American Mideast Conference South Division opener against Tiffin University and won at Saint Vincent College. This week the Cavs play twice at home, on Wednesday against Shawnee State University (7 pm) and on Saturday against Urbana University (2 pm). Both are AMC South games and can be heard live on AM 900 WCER and on the internet at www.wcer.us.

Walsh opened defense of its AMC South title with an 87-63 win over visiting Tiffin University (3-1, 0-1) last Tuesday night. With Walsh holding a 29-27 lead at the 4:32 mark of the first half, they exploded and went on a 19-2 run to lead 48-29 at the half. Corey Jones (Fr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Jason Hicks (Jr., Cleveland, OH/Villa Angela St. Joseph) combined to score 25 first half points and shoot a combined 7-7 from three-point as Walsh shot .667 from the field in the first half. The second half was all Walsh, as they out scored the Dragons 39-34 and led by as many as 24 points. Hicks led all scorers with 22 points, Jones tallied 19 and Derek Chappell (Jr., Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East) scored 12 points off the bench. The Cavs shot .571 from the field for the game and .609 from three-point.

In a re-match of last year's AMC title game; Walsh edged Saint Vincent College 61-59 at Latrobe, PA on Saturday night. Jason Hicks hit two free throws with 7.1 seconds to play to lift Walsh to the win. Walsh shot well early in the game and led by as many as nine points in the first, but cooled off and led only 37-34 at halftime. Saint Vincent caught fire in the second half and built a 50-44 lead with a little over 13 minutes to play when the Cavs went to work. Walsh out scored the Bearcats 10-0 to take a 54-50 lead and led 57-51 with 5:44 to play. But the Bearcats would rally with an 8-0 run to lead 59-57 with 55 seconds to play. Walsh's Cleiton Sebastiao (Sr., Santa Luzia, Brazil/Colegio Brasieleiro Dia) would then tie the game with two free throws, setting the stage for Hicks' game winning free throws. The Bearcats missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Eder Araujo (So., Sao Paulo Brazil/Odete Maria de Freitas) led Walsh with 19 points. Corey Jones added 15 points and Hicks 13. Brandon Weems (So., Akron, OH/Saint Vincent-Saint Mary) dished out seven assists and had five rebounds.

Walsh and Shawnee State (4-7, 1-0) meet at the PE Center on Wednesday. The Bears have played four NCAA DI games, losing all four, but are 1-0 in the AMC South. They were beaten 79-72 at Notre Dame on Friday night. Shawnee was the only AMC team that the Cavs did not beat last season, and the Bears have won the last five games played between the two schools. Walsh's last win came in the 2002-03 season. Walsh leads the all-time series 20-13. Walsh and Urbana (5-5, 2-0) meet in an AMC South contest on Saturday. The Blue Knights defeated Illinois Tech 92-68 on Saturday and have won their last two games. They defeated the University of Rio Grande and Mount Vernon Nazarene in AMC South play. Walsh leads the all-time series 44-29 and currently owns a four-game winning streak over the Blue Knights.

Walsh's balanced scoring attack has three players in double figures. Eder Araujo is averaging 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds and is shooting .643 from the field and .647 from three-point. Corey Jones is averaging 13.1 points and shooting .889 from the foul line and .474 from three-point. Jason Hicks (Jr., Cleveland, OH/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph) is averaging 12.3 points and 4.3 assists. The Cavs are averaging 75.4 points and giving up 62.7 points per game.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Walsh Evens AMC Mark, Routs NAIA Ranked Daemen

Walsh (3-4, 1-1) won two out of three games last week and evened its American Mideast Conference South record in the process. Walsh opened the week with an AMC South win over Tiffin University, lost to Notre Dame College on Thursday, the routed NAIA No.19 Daemen College on Saturday. This week the Cavs host Urbana University in an AMC South contest on Saturday (2 pm).

Walsh evened its AMC South Division record with a 69-53 win over visiting Tiffin University last Tuesday. Walsh shot .519 in the second half and out scored the Dragons 39-31, after leading 30-22 at the half. Beth Sternberg (Sr., East Canton, OH/HS) paced the Cavs with 18 points, going 6-8 from the field and 3-5 from three-point. Dionna Hammett (Sr., Warrensville Heights, OH/St. Peter Chanel) added 13 points and eight rebounds and LeAnne Ware (Sr., Alliance, OH/Marlington) chipped in with 12 points. Walsh shot .490 from the floor and out rebounded Tiffin 50-33.

The Cavs rallied from a 13-point second half deficit, but still fell 83-79 to Notre Dame College (7-1) on Thursday. Walsh trailed 62-49 with 11:33 to play, when they rallied and eventually took leads of 75-74 with 2:53 to play and 77-76 with 1:33 to play on a jumper from Dionna Hammett. But Notre Dame regained the lead for good at 78-77 with 1:15 to play, and then nailed a three-pointer with 18 seconds to play to seal the win. Beth Sternberg led Walsh with 19 points. Ingrid Brainard (Jr., Madison, OH/HS) added 15 points and Eulise Dickerson (Fr., Warrensville Heights, OH/HS) added 13 points off the bench. Hammett pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

Walsh used a 55-point first half to rout Daemen College (3-4) 95-56 on Saturday. The Cavs led 17-16 with 14:32 to play in the first half, when they exploded to out score the Warriors 38-17 the rest of the half to lead 55-33 at the break. The Wildcats would cut the lead to six points in the final minute, but would get no closer. All five starters reached double figures for the Cavs, with Dionna Hammett and LeAnne Ware (Sr. Alliance, OH/Marlington) leading the way with 20 points each. Hammett also had 12 rebounds. Lindsay Becherucci (Sr., Massillon, OH/Washington) making only her second start, scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Becherucci was 6-11 from the floor and 5-5 from the free throw line. Beth Sternberg chipped in 11 points and Ingrid Brainard added 10 points and four assists.

Walsh and Urbana University (3-4, 0-2) meet in an AMC South game on Saturday. The Blue Knights last played December 1 and beat Siena Heights 70-67. They lost AMC South games to Mount Vernon Nazarene and the University of Rio Grande and lost to Daemen College. Walsh lost twice to Urbana last season, but lead the all-time series 21-14.

Walsh is averaging 72.7 points and has four players in double figures. Beth Sternberg is the top scorer, averaging 13.9 points. Dionna Hammett (Sr., Warrensville Heights, OH/St. Peter Chanel) is averaging 11.9 points and a team leading 8.4 rebounds. Ingrid Brainard (Jr., Madison, OH/HS) is averaging 10.7 points and has dished out a team leading 36 assists and LeAnne Ware is averaging 10.4 points. .