This Week In Walsh University Athletics
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tues. 1
Women's Basketball (H) Cedarville University 6 pm (AM 900 WCER, www.wcer.us )
Men's Basketball (H) Cedarville University 8 pm (AM 900 WCER, www.wcer.us )
Thurs. 3
Women's Basketball at University of Northwestern Ohio 6 pm
Fri. 4
Men's Basketball (H) Ohio State University-Mansfield 7:30 pm (AM 900 WCER, www.wcer.us )
Sat. 5
Women's Basketball at Wilberforce University 2 pm
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Roll/Retire Mayors’ Cup/Open AMC Slate at Home
NAIA No. 6 (new poll released today) Walsh added two more wins last week to improve to 6-0 for the first time under Head Coach Jeff Young. First, the Cavs defeated Malone University 88-47 in the 46th Annual Mayors' Cup game last Tuesday night. The win retired the Cup for Walsh in the 100th overall meeting between the rivals. Then on Saturday the Cavs pasted visiting Penn State University- Fayette 124-46. This Tuesday the Cavs open American Mideast Conference South Division play at home against Cedarville University at 8 pm. It is "White Out" Tuesday, with the game also being designated as the dedication game for Walsh's new Alumni Arena. On Friday, the Cavs play their fourth straight home game when they host Ohio State University-Mansfield at 7:30 pm. Both games will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER (www.wcer.us).
Walsh retired the coveted Mayors' Cup for the fifth time with the win over Malone University before 1500 fans at Alumni Arena. Walsh now leads the Cup series 27-19 and the all-time series 61-39. The Cavs have won 12 of the last 13 games with Malone and the last six straight. The two teams will meet at Malone's Osborne Hall on February 9 in an American Mideast Conference game. Malone led 9-8 at the 13:49 mark when the Cavs began to pull away. Walsh would score seven straight points and never look back. Malone would cut the lead to 15-11 when the Cavs went on a 17-0 run to settle the issue in the first half. The Cavs shot 58% (22-38) in the half and led 52-25 at halftime. Eric Schiele (6-0, Sr., Atwater, OH/Waterloo/Cleveland State) scored 11 first half points off the bench and Ricky Jackson (6-7, Sr., Canton, OH/McKinley/West Virginia State) 10. Walsh continued to cruise in the second half, outscoring Malone 36-22. The Cavs led by as many as 45 points (88-43) with 1:34 to play. The 41-point margin of victory is the largest ever against Malone. In the last meeting of 2008-09, the Cavs beat the Pioneers by 38 points (85-47). Jackson paced the Cavs with 17 points. Brandon Speck (6-0, Sr., Mansfield, OH/St. Peter's) added 16 points and Schiele 13 points and six assists. Kyelce Cescato (6-10, Sr., Barra Bonita, Brazil/Colmeia Entec) grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Walsh outrebounded Malone 58-27. Jackson added eight rebounds and Kenny Kornowski (Fr., 6-9, Marshallville, OH/Smithville) seven.
Walsh shot 72% (23-36) in the first half and led 68-17 at the break in the win over PSU-Fayette. Walsh led 8-5 when they went on a 20-0 run to put the game out of reach. Ricky Jackson scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and Brandon Speck added 14 of his 21 points in the first half. The Cavs stayed hot from the field in the second half connecting on 21-32 (66%) to finish at 47-68 (69%) for the game. Eric Schiele added 19 points, Lamar Skeeter (6-0, Jr., Dayton, OH/Kettering Fairmont) 15 and L.J. Sutton (6-5, So., Youngstown, OH/Cardinal Mooney) 10. The Cavs outrebounded the Roaring Lions 43-28, with Jackson, Kyelce Cescato and Kenny Kornowski each having six. Jeremy Shardo (6-3, Jr., Yorkshire, OH/Versailles) handed out a game-high 10 assists.
Walsh and Cedarville University (5-2) open AMC South play on Tuesday. The teams tied for the AMC regular season crown last year with both teams going to the national tournament. Cedarville brings a four-game win streak to Walsh. They defeated Ohio Dominican University 69-60 on November 24. The Yellow Jackets have four players scoring in double figures, led by Ricardo Alliman's 21.0 ppg. They are averaging 95.1 ppg. Walsh leads the all-time series 38-37, but fell 70-66 last year at Cedarville.
Walsh and OSU-Mansfield (1-6) meet for the third straight year on Friday. The Cavs lead the all-time series 2-0 and won 115-46 last year,
Walsh's balanced attack has six players in double figures, led by Ricky Jackson's 20.7 ppg. Jackson is shooting 68% from the field on 48-71. Eric Schiele is averaging 15.0 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench. Brandon Speck is averaging 11.7 points, Lamar Skeeter 11.0 and L.J. Sutton 10.3. Skeeter is shooting 64% from the field and Sutton 52%. Jeremy Shardo is averaging 10.3 points and 6.8 assists. Kyelce Cescato is averaging a team-best 8.7 rebounds. The Cavs are averaging 105.3 points per game and allowing 59.3. Walsh is shooting 55% from the field and are out-rebounding the opponents by 22 per game. This is the Cavs first 6-0 start since the 1997-98 season, when they opened 13-0.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Lose in OT to Taylor/Open AMC Play with Cedarville
Walsh (5-2, 0-0) opens American Mideast Conference play with three conference games this week. The Cavs host 15th ranked Cedarville University on Tuesday (6 pm), then travel to the University of Northwestern Ohio on Thursday (6 pm) on Thursday and to Wilberforce University on Saturday (2 pm). The Walsh/Cedarville game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER (www.wcer.us).
NAIA No. 23-ranked Taylor University edged the Cavs in an overtime thriller by a score of 82-81 on Saturday at Alumni Arena. The Trojans (5-2) had to overcome an early second-half barrage by the Cavs that had the hosts up 17 points with 14:14 to play in regulation. Walsh went on a 12-0 run to start the second half, with eight points coming from Cara Bedard (Jr., 6-0, Randolph, OH/Waterloo), to lead 43-29. With momentum still on their side, the Cavs pushed the lead to 17 thanks to a trio of jumpers by Jessie Miller (Sr., 5-10, Strasburg, OH/HS). However, the momentum tide would turn as the Trojans reeled off 20-straight points to take a three-point lead at 53-50 with 8:15 to play. The Cavs would retake the lead at 57-56 on a basket by Katie Berry (Jr., 5-11, Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph’s) with just over six minutes remaining. They would hold the lead down the stretch until a turnover by Miller with five seconds left gave the Trojans one last chance. Taking advantage of the last opportunity, Bethany Ballard nailed a basket near the top of the key to send it into overtime at 70-70. Taylor struck first in overtime with a baseline basket by Nellie Eskew. Scores by Kristi Yoder (So., 6-1, Millersburg, OH/Hiland), Miller and Berry seemed to give the Cavs’ control, but the Ballard caught fire and scored seven points down the stretch to give her team a two-point lead with 55 seconds remaining. Bedard then tied it up at the 37-second mark on the assist from Berry, but a Walsh foul sent Taylor to the foul line where Erin Guarneri made one of two to provide the difference. Miller had a career-high 30 points to lead the Cavalier attack, including five 3-pointers. Bedard (16), Berry (12) and Yoder (10) also scored in double-figures for Walsh. Berry was one assist and three rebounds shy of a triple-double.
Cedarville (5-1) brings a four-game win streak to Walsh. The 15th ranked Yellow Jackets defeated Wittenberg University in their last game, 75-63, on November 28. They sport four players in double figures, led by Alison Lemon's 17.2 ppg. Walsh won 74-70 last year and has a modest two-game win streak against the Jackets. Cedarville leads the all-time series 18-15.
Walsh travels to Lima, Ohio on Thursday to meet the 4-1 Racers. UNOH defeated the Cavs 95-81 in the regular season finale last year, denying Walsh an automatic berth to the national tournament. The all-time series is 1-1.
Walsh then travels to Wilberforce to meet the Bulldogs (2-5) on Saturday. The Cavs won both meetings from Wilberforce last year and lead the all-time series 12-5.
Jessie Miller is averaging a team-best 20.0 ppg and is shooting .493 from the field and .881 from the line. Katie Berry is averaging 14.9 points, 5.3 assists per game, 5.3 rebounds and is shooting .527 from the field and .800 from the line. Cara Bedard is averaging 14.9 ppg and is shooting .600 from the field and averaging 5.1 rebounds. Transfer Kayla Kovach (So., 6-0, Lakewood, OH/HS/IPFW) is averaging 13.0 ppg and a team-best 6.0 rebounds. Kovach is shooting .545 from the field and .826 from the line. Walsh is shooting .506 from the field and .746 from the stripe. The Cavs are averaging 78.7 points, while holding the opponents to 66.4 points.
