January 15, 2007

Monday, January 15, 2007

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Tues. 16 Women's Basketball (H) Wilberforce University 6 pm

Men's Basketball (H) vs. Wilberforce University 8 pm (900 AM WCER)

Sat. 20 Women's Basketball (A) Shawnee State University 1 pm

Men's Basketball (A) Shawnee State University 3 pm (900 AM WCER)

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs' (16-3, 7-1 AMC S) Streak Reaches 11/Share AMC Lead

NAIA No. 10 Walsh (16-3, 7-1 AMC S) picked-up two more American Mideast Conference South wins last week to remain tied with Mount Vernon Nazarene University for the conference lead.  The wins also extended Walsh's winning streak to 11 games.  This is the longest win streak since 2004-05, when the Cavs put together a 13-game win streak and won the NAIA Division Two National Championship.  The Cavs have also won 13 of their last 14 games.  Walsh downed rival Malone College 80-74 last Tuesday, and then traveled to the University of Rio Grande on Saturday and came away with a 95-83 road win.  This week the Cavs are home for Wilberforce University on Tuesday at 8 pm and at Shawnee State University on Saturday at 3 pm.  Both AMC South games will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER, and on the Internet at www.wcer.us.

Walsh won its tenth straight game defeating rival Malone College 80-74 before a full house at Walsh's Alumni Arena.  It was the Cavs sixth straight win over Malone and their 15th in the last 16 meetings.  There were nine ties in the first half, which ended tied at 35.  Walsh opened the second half with a 7-2 run to take a 42-37 lead, before Malone rallied to take leads of 43-42, 44-42 and 46-45.  Walsh's Eder Araujo (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete de Freitas) then gave Walsh the lead for the good at 47-46 with 14:34 to play.  The Cavs full court press helped extend the lead to 10 points at 56-46 with 12:37 to play.  Malone would close to four points twice, but get no closer.  Brandon Weems (Jr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) just missed a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.  Corey Jones (Jr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) led all scorers with 18 points.  Jason Hicks (Sr., Cleveland, OH/Villa Angela-St. Joseph) scored 14 points in his first game of the season.  Araujo added 11 points and Adam Lesch (Sr., Newark, OH/HS) added 10. 

Walsh won its 11th straight game, defeating the University of Rio Grande 95-83 at Newt Oliver Arena last Saturday.  The victory was also the sixth straight over the Redmen and gave the Cavs the series sweep for the third straight season.  Walsh started strong and vaulted to a 24-14 lead, when Rio exploded for a 24-2 run to take a 38-26 lead.  Behind consecutive baskets by Adam Lesch Walsh closed to within seven points (48-41) at the half.  The second half was all Walsh, as they opened with a 17-4 run to take control of the game at 58-52.  The Cavs never trailed again, and led by ten points (64-54) 12:12 to play.  Rio however would not fold, and closed to within four points at 69-65 and three points (84-81) in the final minute.  Rio then helped seal their own fate, when Head Coach Ken French received back-to-back technical fouls.  Corey Jones then calmly nailed all four free throws to put the game out of reach.  Jason Hicks came off the bench to lead all scorers with 24 points. Hicks was 8-12 from the floor.  Jones had 19 points, as did Brandon Weems.  Weems scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half.  Eder Araujo added 17 points.  Walsh shot .588 from the floor, including .615 in the second half.  The Cavs also connected on 11-20 (.550) from beyond the arc.

Walsh and Wilberforce (7-5, 3-5 AMC S) meet at Alumni Arena on Tuesday.  The much improved Bulldogs fell 81-78 to Shawnee State on Saturday and have lost their last three games.  Walsh leads the all-time series 12-3 and won both games last year.  The Cavs have won the last five games against the Bulldogs.  Walsh travels to Portsmouth, Ohio to meet Shawnee State (11-8, 5-3 AMC S) on Saturday.  The Bears beat Wilberforce last Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak.  They have dropped five of their last seven games.  SSU plays at Urbana University on Tuesday.  Walsh won both games last season and lead the all-time series 22-13.

Brandon Weems leads the NAIA in assists and is averaging 8.5 per game. Jason Hicks has averaged 19.0 points in his first two game.  Corey Jones is averaging 15.3 per game and shooting .857 from the foul line.  Eder Araujo is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game, and is among the AMC leaders.  Adam Lesch is 7th in the NAIA in field goal percentage (.641) and Brandon Speck is among the AMC and NAIA leaders in three-point field goal percentage (.483).  The Cavs are 33-5 at home under Head Coach Jeff Young since the start of the 2004-05 season.  Young's overall mark is 71-22, with a .763 winning percentage, tops in Walsh history.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (3-13, 1-7 AMC S) Play Well, But Fall Twice

Walsh (3-13, 1-7 AMC S) played well, both lost a pair of American Mideast Conference South games to extend their losing streak to four games.  The Cavs have dropped seven of their last eight games.  Walsh plays host to Wilberforce University at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night (6 pm), and then travel to Shawnee State University on Saturday at 1 pm.   

Malone College held on for a 60-56 at Alumni Arena last Tuesday. Walsh trailed most of the game, but stayed close behind a 20-point effort from Ingrid Brainard (Sr., Madison, OH/HS).  Malone led 29-23 at the half, before Walsh ran off seven straight points to start the second half and take a 30-29 lead. It was to be the Cavs' final lead of the night. Malone would rally and eventually lead by eight points at 50-42 when the Cavs rallied again. Walsh closed to 56-53 with 40 seconds to play on two free throws by Brainard.  Malone pushed the lead back to five points (58-53) with 37 seconds left on two free throws when Walsh came back again. Chrissy Summers (Fr., Doylestown, OH/Chippewa) hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds to play to trim the Malone lead to 58-56. Walsh then stole the inbound pass with five seconds left, but turned ball right back over under the basket to assure Malone the win. 

Walsh played well, but lost 73-66 at the University of Rio Grande on Saturday. Walsh shot the ball better and out-rebounded Rio, but were stalled by 27 turnovers. The Cavs trailed 29-24 at half, and trailed in double digits in the second half, before rallying to close within six points in the final minutes. Walsh has dropped its last four games and lost the two-game season series to Rio. Ingrid Brainard paced the Cavs with 17 points. Brainard added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, while shooting 7-14 from the floor. Brittani Maddox added 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Jessie Miller had 11 points.

Ingrid Brainard leads the Cavs in scoring (12.5) and is the only player in double figures.  Brainard, Walsh's all-time assist leader (458), has 65 assists on the season, and leads the team in steals (43) and free throw percentage (.829).  Brittani Maddox leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.6 per game.

Walsh and Wilberforce (5-12, 2-6 AMC S) battle in the first of two AMC South meetings on Tuesday.  The Cavs play at Wilberforce on February 13.  The Bulldogs lost 77-71 at Shawnee State on Saturday and have lost their last two games. Walsh leads the all-time series 9-4.  Walsh travels to Portsmouth, Ohio on Saturday to meet Shawnee State (2-7, 5-3).  The Bears snapped a four-game losing streak against Wilberforce University last Saturday.  Shawnee leads the all-time series against the Cavs 29-4.  Walsh snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Bears with a win last season.