This Week In Walsh University Athletics
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sat. 12
Men's Basketball at the University of Northwestern Ohio 4 pm (AM 900 WCER, www.wcer.us )
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Win AMC Opener/Set Records in Win over OSU-Mansfield
NAIA No.3 (new poll released today) Walsh (8-0, 1-0) remained unbeaten, and improved to 8-0 for the first time under Head Coach Jeff Young with two more wins last week . This is the Cavs first 8-0 start since the 1997-98 season when they opened 13-0. First, the Cavs defeated Cedarville University 88-76 in their American Mideast Conference South Division opener at home last Tuesday night. Then, the Cavs set six new records in a 154-59 win over visiting Ohio State University-Mansfield on Friday night. This week the Cavs play once, when they travel to the University of Northwestern Ohio for an AMC South game on Saturday at 2 pm. The game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER (www.wcer.us).
Walsh's Ricky Jackson (6-7, Sr., Chicago, IL/Canton McKinley/West Virginia State), the AMC Player of the Week, exploded for scored 22 of his game-high 32 points in the second half as Walsh snapped the 39-all halftime tie in their win over Cedarville. The game was tied eight times in the first half with five lead changes. The second half was all Walsh, as the Cavs snapped a 41-41 tie with seven straight points to take the lead for good. Walsh pushed the lead to 10 points at 58-48 with 11:04 to play. Cedarville would cut the lead to five points twice, at 58-53 and a final time at 60-55 with 9:34 to play. Walsh would then outscore the Jackets 6-1 to extend the lead to double figures at 66-56. They would hold a double digit lead the rest of the game and hold their largest lead at 78-63 with 2:41 to play. Jackson shot 11-20 from the floor and 7-10 from the line. He also hit 3-6 from behind the arc and added 10 rebounds. Jeremy Shardo (6-3, Jr., Yorkshire, OH/Versailles) chipped in 14 points and a game-high 10 assists in 34 minutes. Lamar Skeeter (6-0, Jr., Dayton, OH/Kettering Fairmont) was outstanding off the bench with 16 points on 5-7 from the floor. The Cavs shot 61% in the second half on 17-28 from the field, while holding Cedarville to 46% (13-28) in the second half.
Walsh set six records in their romp over visiting Ohio State University-Mansfield. The Cavs set marks for points in a single game (154), points in a single half (84), margin of victory (95), field goals made (64), assists (47) and rebounds (73). The game was tied once at 2-2 and OSU-Mansfield led once at 2-0. Walsh would then blitz the Mavs for 84 first half points and lead 84-23 at the half. Ricky Jackson scored 19 of his game-high 32 points in the first half. Walsh would have place nine of ten players in double figure scoring and have four players’ record double-doubles. Kyelce Cescato (6-10, Sr., Barra Bonita, Brazil/Colmeia Entec) scored 20 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Lamar Skeeter added 20 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots off the bench. L.J. Sutton (6-5, So., Youngstown, OH/Cardinal Mooney) added 16 points and 11 rebounds, Brandon Speck (6-0, Sr., Mansfield, OH/St. Peter's) and Lance Randall (6-3, Jr., Canfield, OH/Ursuline/Wheeling Jesuit) added 15 points each. Nikola Knezevic (6-0, Fr., Belgrade, Serbia/Conotton Valley) scored a career-high 13 points and Jeremy Shardo and Kenny Kornowski (6-9, Fr., Marshallville, OH/Smithville) chipped in 10 points. Shardo added a game-high nine assists and Kornowski had 10 rebounds. Walsh shot 63% (64-101) from the floor, while also recording 19 steals and 11 blocks.
Walsh meets the University of Northwestern Ohio (5-4, 1-1) in their second AMC game of the season in Lima on Saturday. The Racers evened their AMC record with a 68-60 win at Shawnee State University on Saturday. They play at Indiana Wesleyan University on Tuesday night. The Racers have three players in double figure scoring and are led by Josh Vorst, who is averaging 17.9 ppg. Walsh won both games last year and lead the all-time series 4-0.
Walsh's balanced attack has seven players in double figures, led by Ricky Jackson's 23.5 ppg (2nd AMC). Jackson is shooting 67% (2nd AMC) from the field on 72-107. Eric Schiele (6-0, Jr., Atwater, OH/Waterloo/Cleveland State) is averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench. Lamar Skeeter has upped his scoring average to 12.9 points and is shooting 65% from the field and 46% from three-point. Brandon Speck is averaging 10.9 points and L.J. Sutton 10.5. Kyelce Cescato is averaging 10.6 points and a team-best 9.1 rebounds. Jeremy Shardo is averaging 10.8 points and is second in the NAIA with 7.5 assists per game. The Cavs are averaging 109.2 points per game and allowing 61.4. Walsh is shooting 56% from the field and are out-rebounding the opponents by 24 per game.
Walsh has been nearly unbeatable at home with 26 straight wins. They have posted wins in 47 of their last 48 home games. Their last home loss came at the hands of Urbana University (64-70) in the 2007-08 season.
The Cavs and Oregon Tech own the NAIA Division II active streak for longest run in the Top 25 at 53 straight weeks -- the last time either was not ranked was Jan. 11, 2005.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Open AMC Play with Win over Cedarville/Finish Week 2-1
Walsh (7-3, 2-1) opened American Mideast Conference play with two wins in three games this past week. The Cavs upset 10th ranked Cedarville University at home, lost at University of Northwestern Ohio on Thursday, then skated by Wilberforce University on the road on Saturday. The Cavs are now idle until the 18th of December, when play in the Crimson Wave Classic.
Walsh edged Cedarville 79-76 in overtime in the AMC opener for both teams. Jessie Miller (Sr., 5-10, Strasburg, OH/HS) drained her fourth 3-pointer of the evening as time expired to send the game into the extra period. It was Walsh's second straight overtime game. With a chance to ice the game, with Cedarville up 67-64, the Yellow Jackets missed the back end of two free throws, allowing the Cavaliers’ Cara Bedard (Jr., 6-0, Randolph, OH/Waterloo) to pull down the rebound with seven seconds left. She then relayed the ball to Katie Berry (Jr., 5-11, Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph’s) who took it up-court before dishing it off to Miller. In the overtime period, Walsh led for the remainder of the game following Bedard’s jumper 12 seconds in to make the score 69-67. The Cavaliers helped themselves by sinking all eight of their foul shots in overtime. Berry led the Cavaliers with a game-high 23 points while adding eight assists and five steals. Miller finished with 18 points and Bedard added 11 to round out Walsh’s double-figure scorers. Both Miller and Bedard provided problems for Cedarville’s offense as they each had four blocks.
Walsh lost its first AMC game 73-57 at the University of Northwestern Ohio. Walsh shot 58% (14-24) in the first half, but still trailed 33-30 at the break. The second half was keyed by a 23-0 Racers run. With the game tied at 45 with 11:02 to play, UNOH reeled off 23 straight points to lead 68-45, holding the Cavs scoreless until the 3:46 mark. The Racers outscored the Cavs 40-27 in the second half, holding them to 40% (13-32) from the field. Turnovers were also a major factor as the Cavs turned the ball over a season-high 35 times. Kayla Kovach (So., 6-0, Lakewood, OH/HS/IPFW) hit 8-11 from the field and paced the Cavs with 16 points. Cara Bedard added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Darlene Woolf (Jr., 5-7, East Rochester, OH/United) scored a career-high 17 points, as Walsh placed six players in double figures in a 104-71 rout of Wilberforce University. Woolf connected on 6-9 from the field and 5-8 from the line in the rout. Walsh exploded for 55 first half points and led 55-36 at the half. Jessie Miller added 16 points and five assists. Katie Berry chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Leah Seaman (5-8, Sr., Louisville, OH/HS) tallied 13 points and handed out five assists off the bench, Cara Bedard added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kristi Yoder (6-1, So., Millersburg, OH/Hiland) hit 6-7 fielders off the bench to add 12 points.
Jessie Miller is averaging a team-best 17.8 ppg and is shooting 47% from the field and 80% from the line. Katie Berry is averaging 15.0 points, 5.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and is shooting 48% from the field and 77% from the line. Cara Bedard is averaging 14.0 ppg and is shooting 59% from the field and averaging a team-best 6.2 rebounds. Kayla Kovach is averaging 12.0 ppg and 5.8 rebounds and is shooting 53% from the field and 77% from the line. Walsh is shooting 50% from the field and 72% from the stripe. The Cavs are averaging 79.1 points, while holding the opponents to 68.5.
