February 19, 2007

Monday, February 19, 2007

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Wed. 21 Men's Basketball (H) Ohio Dominican University (AMC Playoff) 7:30 pm (900 AM WCER)

Fri. 23 Baseball vs. Spring Arbor at Lindsey Wilson (KY)/ vs. Lindsey Wilson 10 am/3 pm

Sat. 24 Men's Basketball (H) AMC Playoff (if necessary) 7:30 pm (900 AM WCER)

Indoor Track (A) Mount Union College Open

Baseball vs. Urbana at Campbellsville (KY)/ vs. Campbellsville 10 am/12:30 pm

Synchronized Swimming at NE Community Center 1 pm

Women's Tennis at Kenyon College 11 am

Sun 25 Baseball vs. Rio Grande at Lindsey Wilson (KY) 10 am

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs' (24-5, 15-3 AMC S) Tri-Champs in AMC South/Open Playoffs at Home

NAIA No. 8 (new ranking released 2/21) Walsh (24-5, 15-3 AMC S) finished the regular season with two American Mideast Conference South wins, and finished as tri-champions with Cedarville University and Mount Vernon Nazarene. It is the first time since the 1980's that Walsh has won, or shared the conference title three consecutive years.  Walsh won its first conference title under Bob Huggins in 1982, and then repeated under Huggins in 1983.  They then won their third straight crown under Dan Peters in 1984.  Cedarville wins the tie-breaker over Walsh and Mount Vernon and receives the automatic bid to the NAIA Division Championships in Branson, MO, March 7-13.  Walsh, with their number eight NAIA ranking, is all but assured a berth at the National Tournament as an at-large, if they fail to win the AMC Qualifying Tournament.  The eight-team tournament begins on February 21. The Cavs, the top seed in the tournament, will play fourth-seeded Ohio Dominican University on at 7:30 pm.  If the Cavs win, they play the winner of the Daemen-Roberts Wesleyan game on Saturday.  All games will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the Internet at www.wcer.us.

After having their game with Shawnee State postponed two days because of the weather, the Cavs wasted no time in getting to a big lead in the game on Thursday.  They shot .615 from the floor in the first half in building a 41-22 halftime lead.  The Cavs then went on to post a 69-61 victory.  Adam Lesch (Sr., Newark, OH/HS) went over the 1,000 point mark at the 10:09 mark of the half, and finished with a game-high 26 points.  Lesch connected on 9-10 shots from the field. Corey Jones (Jr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) added 15 points. 

Walsh put the game away in the first half on Saturday at Wilberforce, leading by as many as 21 points, and by 14 points (37-23) at the break.  The Cavs won by a final score of 67-55.  Walsh shot .536 in the first half, with Jason Hicks (Sr., Cleveland, OH/Villa Angela St. Joseph) scoring 11 of his team leading 16 points in the first half.  Hicks also went over the 1,000 point mark in his Walsh career.  He connected on three three-pointers for the Cavs, who finished the game 8-18 (.444) from beyond the arc.  Corey Jones (Jr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) added 12 points and Adam Lesch (Sr., Newark, OH.HS) 10.  Eder Araujo (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete de Freitas) grabbed a game high 10 rebounds and Brandon Weems (Jr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) dished out seven assists.

Walsh and Ohio Dominican (15-15, 9-9 AMC S) meet for the third this season in Wednesday's playoff opener.  This is the first time since 2002-03 that the Cavs have played in the qualifying tournament.  Walsh has taken both meeting from the Panthers, winning 85-66 at home on January 6, and 74-61 in Columbus on February 10.  The Cavs lead the all-time series 58-20 and have won the last six meetings.

Brandon Weems leads the AMC and NAIA in assists, with a 7.15 per game average. Corey Jones leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game. He is shooting .846 from the foul line, and .431 from three-point, which is fifth in the AMC.   Adam Lesch leads the AMC in field goal percentage (.613) and is ninth in the NAIA. Lesch and Jason Hicks each went over the 1,000 point mark last week.  Eder Araujo is averaging 9.0 rebounds per game, second in the AMC.  The Cavs are 37-5 at home under Head Coach Jeff Young since the start of the 2004-05 season. Young's overall mark is 79-24, with a .767 winning percentage, tops in Walsh history.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (5-21, 3-15 AMC S) Fall in Season Finale

Walsh (5-21, 3-15 AMC S) dropped its final two American Mideast Conference South games last week and finished the season losing their final six games. The Cavs finished last in the AMC for the first time.  Walsh's 21 losses are the most since 1991-92, when they finished 5-23.   

Shawnee State handed Walsh its fifth straight loss, defeating them 71-63 on Thursday.  Walsh shot just .289 from the floor in the first half, and trailed 33-25 at the break. Shawnee extended the lead to 14 points (49-35) in the second half, when the Cavs went on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 51-47 with 9:41 to play. It would be as close as they would come. Brittani Maddox (R-Fr., Cleveland Heights, OH/HS) led all scorers with a career high 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Walsh closed the season, losing 71-70 at Wilberforce on Saturday.  Wilberforce's (7-21, 4-14 AMC S) Latoya Graham scored with three seconds to play to snatch victory from the Cavs.  Nicole Dressler (Jr., Lodi, OH/Cloverleaf) gave the Cavaliers a 70-69 lead with 10 seconds to play, after connecting on three straight free throws.  Wilberforce then advanced the ball up the floor quickly, with Graham hitting the game winner inside 15 feet from the left side of the lane.  Dressler led the Cavs with 15 points and tied for rebound honors with seven.  Ingrid Brainard (Sr., Madison, OH/HS) added 10 points in her final game in a Walsh uniform.

Ingrid Brainard led the Cavs in scoring (13.5), assists (100), steals (63) and free throw percentage (.812). Brainard, Walsh's all-time assist leader with 493 also scored 1,218 points.  Her .802 career free throw percentage is second on the all-time list. Brittani Maddox led the team in rebounding (6.3) and second in scoring (7.4).

MEN’S TENNIS: Cavs (0-1) Fall in Season Opener at Kenyon College

Walsh fell 0-9 in their season opener at the Kenyon College last Saturday.  Kenyon is ranked 24th in NCAA Division III.

WOMEN’S TENNIS: Cavs (0-1) Open Season with Loss at Slippery Rock

Walsh (0-1) opened the season losing 1-8 at Slippery Rock this past Sunday.  Walsh's number three doubles team of Megan Navarre (Jr., Indianapolis, IN/Center Grove) and Jen Yost (Fr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) posted the only win on the day.

The Cavs are at Kenyon College this Saturday at 11 am.