January 29, 2007

Monday, January 29, 2007

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Tues. 30 Women's Basketball (H) Tiffin University 6 pm

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

Sat. 3 Women's Basketball (A) Malone College 5:30 pm (AM 900 WCER)

Men's Basketball (A) Malone College 7:30 pm (900 AM WCER)

Indoor Track (A) Mount Union College Invitational

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs' (20-3, 11-1 AMC S) Streak at 15/Hold AMC Lead/Mayor's Cup on Saturday

NAIA No. 5 (new ranking released 1/31) Walsh (20-3, 11-1 AMC S) picked-up two more American Mideast Conference South wins last week, to extend their winning streak to 15 games.  This is the second longest winning streak in school history.  The longest streak came in 1982-83, when the Cavs won 34 games in a row under Bob Huggins.  The Cavs have also posted 17 wins in their last 18 games.  Walsh is also the first Ohio collegiate team to reach the 20-win plateau.  Walsh has won 20 games in a single season 18 times, including three straight years under Head Coach Jeff Young.

Walsh had to go to overtime to win at Urbana University (82-77) last Tuesday.  The win gave the Cavs sole possession of first place in the AMC South, as Mount Vernon Nazarene lost at Cedarville University.  Then, on Saturday, the Cavs thrilled a standing room only crowd, with a 77-70 win over Cedarville.  This week, the Cavs host Tiffin University on Tuesday (8 pm), then play Malone College on Saturday night (7:30 pm) in the annual Mayor's Cup game.   Both AMC South games will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER, and on the Internet at www.wcer.us.

Walsh won its 14th straight game, defeating Urbana University 82-77 in overtime last Tuesday.  The Cavs and Blue Knights battled the entire night.  The game was tied at the half (33), and at the end of regulation (68).  In the OT, the Cavs hit 7 of 11 free throws to seal the win. Walsh's balanced attack was paced by Corey Jones (Jr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) game-high 21 points.  Jones connected on 8-13 from the field and 3-6 from three-point.  Brandon Weems (Jr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Derek Chappell (Sr., Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East) added 14 points and Adam Lesch (Sr., Newark, OH/HS) tallied 12.  Weems had a double-double, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. He also dished out seven assists.  Eder Araujo (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete de Freitas) added nine rebounds and Chappell eight.

Walsh won its 15th straight game, defeating NAIA No. 15 Cedarville University (15-6, 9-3 AMC S) 77-70, before a standing room only crowd (1,201) at Walsh's Alumni Arena.  Walsh's lead in the AMC South over Cedarville is now two games.  The Cavs lead second place Mount Vernon Nazarene (10-2) by one-game.  There were four ties and ten lead changes in the first half, which ended tied at 36.  Walsh trailed 34-29 with 2:37 left, when they went on a 9-2 run to end the half.  The second half was basically all Walsh.  After trailing 42-40 with 15:54 to play, the Cavs went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.  The Cavs led by as many as nine points (59-50) with 8:40 to go, when Cedarville scored eight unanswered points to trim the lead to 59-58.  The Jackets cut the lead to one-point once more, at 61-60, but never tied the game or regained the lead.  Walsh's last ten points came on free throws.  Adam Lesch led all scorers with 25 points.  Corey Jones added 12 points, and Jason Hicks (Sr., Cleveland, OH/Villa Angela-St. Joseph) 11 points and five assists off the bench. 

Walsh plays their next to last regular season home game on Tuesday against Tiffin University (3-17, 3-8 AMC S).  Walsh beat the Dragons 63-54, at Tiffin on November 21.  Tiffin scored just 38 points in a 53-38 home loss to Shawnee State University on Saturday.  They have lost their last two games.  Walsh has won the last five games with the Dragons and lead the all-time series 50-21. 

Walsh and Malone (12-10, 3-8 AMC S) meet in the 43rd Annual Mayor's Cup on Saturday.  The Cavs leads the "Cup" series 24-18, and the all-time series 55-38.  Walsh beat Malone 80-74 at Alumni Arena on January 9.  The Cavs have won the last seven "Cup" games.  Walsh retired the "Cup" for the fourth time in 2004-05.  Three consecutive "Cup" wins are required to retire the trophy.  Walsh started a new streak last year with an 89-66 home win.  Malone is coming off a 70-69 AMC South home win over Ohio Dominican last Saturday.  The Pioneers host Mount Vernon Nazarene on Tuesday night.

Brandon Weems leads the NAIA in assists, with a 7.8 per game average. Corey Jones leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game.  He is shooting .846 from the foul line, and .453 from three-point.  Eder Araujo is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game, tops in the AMC.  Adam Lesch, Derek Chappell and Brandon Speck (Fr., Mansfield, OH/St. Peter's) are all among the AMC stat leaders.  Lesch is now shooting .608 from the field and has jumped into the top five in shooting.  Lesch may also be among the NAIA leaders.  Official numbers will be released on Monday. He averaged 18.5 points in Walsh's two wins last week.   Chappell was sixth last week in field goal (.575) and Speck third in three-point percentage (.474).  The Cavs are 35-5 at home under Head Coach Jeff Young since the start of the 2004-05 season.  Young's overall mark is 75-22, with a .773 winning percentage, tops in Walsh history.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (5-15, 3-9 AMC S) Notch Road Win at Urbana/Lose Tough Battle to 7th Ranked Cedarville

Walsh (5-15, 3-9 AMC S) played its best basketball of the season, in splitting a pair of American Mideast Conference South games last week.  The Cavs won on the road at Urbana University on Tuesday, but fell at home to NAIA No. 7, and AMC leader, Cedarville University on Saturday. This week the Cavs host Tiffin University on Tuesday night (6 pm), before traveling to Malone College on Saturday night (5:30 pm) for the annual Mayor's Cup game.  The Walsh-Malone game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the Internet at www.wcer.us.

Walsh won for the second time in the last three outings, by notching a 66-62 win at Urbana University last Tuesday.  The Cavs erased an eight-point first half deficit (12-4), and trailed by only two points (32-30) at the break.  The Cavs led by as many as 10 points in the second half, as they out scored the Blue Knights 36-30.  Ingrid Brainard (Sr., Madison, OH/HS) led a balanced attack with 15 points and five assists.  Damoniq'e Askew (Jr., Barberton, OH/HS) played her finest game of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds.  Eulise Dickerson (So., Warrensville Heights, OH/HS) recorded a team-high nine rebounds, to go along with eight points.

Walsh put up a valiant effort, before falling 89-84 to Cedarville University (18-5, 10-2) on Saturday.  Cedarville led by as many as nine points (31-22) in the first half, before the Cavs rallied and trailed by only four points (42-38) at halftime.  Walsh then trimmed the lead to 64-62, on Ingrid Brainard's seven straight points with 11:32 to play.  Cedarville would regroup however, and extend their lead to 12 points (78-66) with a 14-4 run with 5:33 to play.  The Cavs would cut the lead under ten points in the final minute, but would get no closer then four points.  Brainard led Walsh with 23 points, with Chrissy Summers (Fr., Doylestown, OH/Chippewa) adding 19 points off the bench.

Walsh and Tiffin (10-11, 7-5 AMC S) meet for the second time this season on Tuesday.  The Dragons won the first meeting, 56-43, at Tiffin, on November 21.  Tiffin has jumped back into the AMC playoff race with three consecutive wins, including a 76-72 home win against Shawnee State on Saturday.  The Dragons are just 2-10 on the road this season.  Walsh leads the all-time series 22-19.

Walsh and Malone (14-10, 6-6 AMC S) meet in the 11th annual Mayors' Cup game, at Osborne Hall on Saturday.  Malone leads the "Cup" series 6-4, and can retire the trophy for the second time with a win on Saturday.  The Cavs have never retired the "Cup."  Malone won the first meeting this season, 60-56, at Walsh, on January 9.  Malone leads the all-time series 30-27.  The Pioneers are coming off a 70-69 home win over Ohio Dominican University last Saturday.  They host Mount Vernon Nazarene on Tuesday.

Ingrid Brainard leads the Cavs in scoring (13.3) and is the only player in double figures.  Brainard, Walsh's all-time assist leader (475), has 82 assists on the season, and leads the team in steals (51) and free throw percentage (.833).  Brittani Maddox (R-Fr., Cleveland Heights, OH/HS) leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.1 per game.  Freshman Chrissy Summers is now the Cavs second leading scorer, averaging 7.6 points per game.  Walsh is holding the opposition to 66.6 points per game and to .411 shooting from the field.  The Cavs are also out-rebounding their opponents by 2.4 per game.

MEN'S TRACK: Cavs 9th at CWRU Spartan Invitational

Walsh finished 9th at the Case Western Reserve University Spartan Invitational on Saturday.  Case Western won the event with 91 points.  There were 15 events scored.  The Cavs came away with many fine individual efforts, including two first place finishes.  Brandon McKee (So., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) placed first in the mile (4:26.35) and Tyler Pierce (Fr., Salem, OH/HS) was first in the high jump (6-04.00).  Pete Tsaftarides (Sr., Canton, OH/McKinley) finished second in the shot (46-09.00) and Jerome Jackson (So., Euclid, OH/HS) fifth in the shot (44-09.75).

Walsh will compete in the Mount Union College Invitational this Saturday.

WOMEN'S TRACK: Cavs (10-1) Second at CWRU Spartan Invitational