February 20, 2006

Monday, February 20, 2006

Mon. 20 Men's Tennis at Cumberland (KY) 1 pm

Tues. 21 Women's Basketball (H) Tiffin (AMC Playoff) 7:30 pm

Fri. 24 Baseball vs. Spring Arbor, at Campbellsville 10 am/12:30 pm

Men's & Women's Tennis (H) Slippery Rock (Hall of Fame) 6 pm

Sat. 25 Women's Basketball / AMC Playoff if necessary

Men's Basketball (H) Daemen College 7:30 pm / 900 AM WCER

Baseball vs. Spring Arbor, vs. Hastings at Lindsay Wilson 10 am/3 pm

Track at Mount Union

Sun. 26 Baseball at Campbellsville TBA

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (24-6, 15-3) clinch AMC South Regular Season Crown, Will Return to Branson to Defend National Title

NAIA No. 6 (new ranking out Wednesday) and defending NAIA National Champion Walsh (24-6, 15-3) closed the regular season with three American Mideast Conference South Division wins to clinch the conference championship, and a return trip to defend its national championship in Missouri.  The Cavs defeated Tiffin University on Thursday to clinch the AMC South title. Earlier in the week, the Cavs defeated Ohio Dominican on "Bob Huggins Night," then downed Shawnee State to close the regular season.  Walsh will now host Daemen College (20-10, 10-4), the AMC North champion, in the AMC Championship game on Saturday night (7:30 pm).  The game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the internet at www.wcer.us. 

Walsh's 24 regular season wins are the most since the 1997-98 season, when they also won 24 games under the late Steve Loy.  The Cavs national tournament trip will be their eighth.  Walsh won its first ever national championship last season.  The 2005-06 Cavs are only the second team to make back-to-back national tournament appearances and Head Coach Jeff Young is first coach to make back-to-back trips.  The Cavs went to the national tourney in 1983 under Bob Huggins and in 1984 under Dan Peters. 

Walsh snapped its modest one-game losing streak with a 92-61 win over Ohio Dominican University on "Bob Huggins Night".  The Cavs honored their former head coach from 1980-83, with halftime ceremonies.  Walsh had five players score in double digits, but none better than Derek Chappell (Jr., Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East). Playing perhaps his finest game at Walsh, Chappell scored a career-high 27 points off the bench. The night's other statistical anomaly came from Jason Hicks (Jr., Cleveland, OH/Villa Angela-St. Joseph), who dished out 15 assists to accompany his 12 points, all off three pointers. Corey Jones (So., Avon Lake, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) added 16 points, Eder Araujo (So., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete Maria de Freitas) 12 and Brandon Weems (So., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) 11.

Walsh claimed its second straight AMC South Division title and trip to the NAIA National Championships, after defeating Tiffin University 57-43.  Walsh and Tiffin were involved in a defense struggle, which the Cavs led 27-23 at halftime.  Walsh began to pull away gradually in the first seven minutes of the second half, expanding their lead to 11 points (40-29) with 12:58 to play.  Tiffin would close the lead to seven points (40-33) with 10:41 to play, but would get no closer.  For the second straight game, the evening belonged to junior Derek Chappell.  After scoring a career-high 27 points against Ohio Dominican, Chappell countered with a 20-point effort off the bench against the Dragons.  Chappell was 9-12 from the field and 2-3 from the line in 27 minutes.  Corey Jones added 14 points and Brandon Weems 12.  The Cavs held the Dragons to 18 field goals and a season low 43 points.  

Walsh closed the regular season with an 83-65 win over Shawnee State University.  Corey Jones snapped a 9-9 tie with a three-pointer at the 14:23 mark of the first half to give Walsh the lead for good.  The Cavs led 39-31 at halftime.  Walsh's 18-point lead at the final buzzer matched their largest lead of the game.  Derek Chappell capped off a great week, with his third straight game of 20 points or more.  Chappell led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 7-13 from the field.  Jones added 14 points and Jason Hicks added 11 points.  

Walsh makes its second straight AMC Championship game appearance, when they host Daemen College on Saturday night.  Daemen finished in a three-way tie for first place in the AMC North with Seton Hill and Point Park, but won the tie-breaker to clinch the automatic berth to the national tournament.  This will be the second meeting of the season between the Cavs and Wildcats.  Daemen spoiled the Cavs home opener, winning 62-61 on November 15.  Thereon Blackwell scored with five seconds to play to give the Wildcats at 62-61 lead.  Walsh's Jason Hicks then missed a shot at the buzzer in an attempt to win the game.  Joe Olsen led Daemen with 17 points.  Corey Jones paced Walsh with 14.  The Cavs lead the all-time series 8-3.  Daemen had their four-game win streak snapped 75-52 at Seton Hill on Saturday night.  Brian Montanero leads the team in scoring (19.1 ppg) and is second in rebounding (5.0).  Joe Olsen is averaging 17.3 ppg. The Wildcats have posted wins in four of their last five games.

Walsh's balanced scoring attack has four players in double figures.  Corey Jones has taken over the scoring lead from Jason Hicks.  The two have traded back and forth the entire season.  Jones is averaging 14.2 points, shooting .512 from the field, .977 from the foul line and .449 from three-point.  He has also made a school-record 41 consecutive free throws and is 42-43 for the season from the line. Hicks is averaging 13.5 points and is shooting a team-best .475 from three-point and leads the team with 145 assists.   Eder Araujo is averaging 11.5 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds and is shooting .498 from the field.  Derek Chappell, whose numbers continue to rise, is averaging in double figures at 10.2 points and shooting .586 from the floor.  Brandon Weems has upped his scoring average to 8.8 points and is shooting .451 from three-point.  Weems has also dished out 122 assists and committed only 46 turnovers.    Adam Lesch (Jr., Newark, OH/HS) is averaging 7.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and is shooting .484 from the field and .754 from the foul line.  As a team, the Cavs are shooting .482 from the field and .428 from three-point, which is second in the NAIA. 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Walsh (15-12, 11-7) Returns to Post Season Play, Complete Three-Game Sweep to Close Regular Season and Stun No. 8 Shawnee State

After dropping three straight games, Walsh (15-12, 11-7) posted wins in their final three games to clinch third place in the American Mideast Conference South Division and a first round home game..  The second seeded Cavs host third seeded Tiffin University (7:30 pm) on Tuesday in a first round game. Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for students.  The winner plays the Roberts Wesleyan (20-9)/Daemen (19-11) winner on Saturday.  If Walsh wins and Daemen wins, the game would be at Daemen.  If the Cavs win and Roberts Wesleyan wins, the game would be at Walsh at 5 pm on Saturday.  

Walsh returns to the post season after missing out last season.  Walsh has not won an opening round game since defeating Tiffin in 2001-02.  The Cavs have an all-time playoff record of 17-16 and are 10-2 at home.  They won the NAIA National Championship in 1998.

Walsh caged Ohio Dominican 73-53 on Tuesday to clinch a berth in the AMC playoffs.  Walsh led 31-21 at halftime, but was tied at 35 with 13:09 remaining. Walsh then put the game away with a 21-3 run to lead 63-43 with 3:42 to play. The night belonged to senior Beth Sternberg (Sr., East Canton, OH/HS).  Sternberg paced the Cavs with 16 points and set a new mark for three-point goals, breaking the old mark of 204 set by former NAIA All-American Melanie Scheetz (1996-00).  Sternberg has 212 career three-pointers.  Dionna Hammett (Sr., Warrensville Heights, OH/St. Peter Chanel) recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Ingrid Brainard (Jr., Madison, OH/HS) added 13 points and dished out four assists. 

Walsh snapped an 11-game losing streak against NAIA No. 8 Shawnee State, by stunning the Bears 70-63. The win was Walsh's first win over the Bears since they won the NAIA National Championship in 1998.  Walsh trailed 17-4 early in the contest as Shawnee went on a 17-1 run. Walsh then rallied and trailed only 23-22 at the half.  There were six ties in the second half, before the Cavs took the lead for good at 48-47 on a free throw by Beth Sternberg.  Walsh would lead by as many as seven points and would seal the game on four Ingrid Brainard free throws in the final minute.  Brainard and Sternberg led the Cavs with 16 points each.  Dionna Hammett grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and scored 14 points. 

Walsh and Tiffin (13-14, 10-8 AMC S) meet for third time this season, and second time in six days when they tangle on Tuesday.  Walsh won 69-53 in November, then slayed the Dragons 62-57 last week.  The Cavs lead the all-time series 21-18 and are 3-0 against the Dragons in the post season. 

Walsh has four players scoring in double figures, led by Beth Sternberg's 15.4 points per game.  Sternberg is shooting .435 from the field, .417 from three-point and .853 from the foul line.  Dionna Hammett is averaging 12.5 points and a team best 8.3 rebounds.  Ingrid Brainard is averaging 11.1 points, shooting .827 from the line and is handing out 5.1 assists.  Lindsay Becherucci is averaging 10.6 points, pulling down 7.6 rebounds and leads the team in field goal percentage (.551).

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: Cavs (3-6) Fourth at Walsh Invitational

Walsh finished fourth in the Walsh Invitational, held at the Northeast Community Center this past Saturday.  The Cavs are idle until March 4, when participate in the Mideast Zone Regionals at Wheaton College (Ill.)

Ohio State won the Walsh Invitational with 86 points.  Canisius College was second (72), Keuka College third (67) and the Cavaliers fourth (545).  Walsh freshman Margareta Jakovac (Zagreb, Croatia/IX Gimnasium) finished fourth in solo (86.667).  Erin Champ (Fr., Hartford, OH/Badger) was sixth (72.167).  Kristin Mueller (Sr., Mentor, OH/HS) and Jakovac tied for 5th in duet (82.500).  Mueller, Hannah McKenzie (Fr., Forest Lake, MN/HS) and Laura Winslow (Fr., St. Paul, MN/Stillwater Area) finished fourth in trio (82.083).  

MEN?S TRACK: McKee Provisional Qualifier in the Mile

Brendan McKee (Fr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) qualified provisionally for the NAIA National Indoor Meet in the mile, when he posted a time of 4:23.95 at Kent State University on Saturday.