LAKELAND, Florida - The Walsh Cavaliers men's basketball team had to use a second half comeback to bring one win back to Ohio on their Florida swing this weekend. 

The Cavaliers used a 13-0 run in the second half, defeating the Southeastern Fire 80-72 on Saturday (Dec. 21) at the Furnace. 

After Christian Montague opened the scoring with a layup, the Fire tied the game with a pair of free throws one minute later. JT Shumate made a layup, putting the Cavaliers up 4-2 but the Fire quickly regained the 5-4 lead with a three pointer. Sterling Christy made three free throws and Mark Mokros added a layup on a 5-0 Walsh run, taking a 9-5 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half. Southeastern scored four straight points, tying the game once again at nine apiece. The teams went back and forth before the Fire restored the lead for the remainder of the first half. Shumate made a three pointer before the Fire erased the lead. Mokros gave the Cavaliers a lead two different times with a three pointer and a layup but Southeastern tied the game at 17-17 at the halfway point of the first half. Southeastern led by as many as seven in the first half but held a 36-32 lead at the halftime break. 

The Fire pushed the lead to eight with two straight baskets before Walsh brought the lead to three on a Darryl Straughter three point play. With 15:40 left in the game, the Fire added a basket for a 46-41 lead. A three ball from Mokros and a Straughter layup tied the game at 46. Southeastern scored four straight points, regathering a 50-46 lead with 13:40 to go. Christy kickstarted a 13-0 run that put the Cavaliers up 59-50 with 11:21 remaining. Mokros hit two three pointers in the rally as he had a career day. After a layup, Walsh continued to control the pace with an 11-3 run, where the lead grew to 70-55 behind seven more points from Mokros. Southeastern stopped the Walsh run with a 10-2 run of their own, as they trimmed the deficit to 72-65 with 4:16 left. Christy had a layup before Straughter used five straight points to hit a milestone. 

After a pair of free throws with 2:50 left, Straughter found himself at 999 career points. 31 seconds later, the junior nailed a dagger that put him over the 1,000 point plateau. He became the 42nd Cavalier to have 1,000 career points. He finished with 13 points, and a career total of 1,002 points. 

Walsh went on to win the game 80-72, bringing one win back to Ohio on Sunday. The Cavaliers advanced to 9-2 overall on the season. 

Mokros set a career-high with 23 points on nine field goals and five threes. Christy went eight-of-11 from the free throw line as a part of a 17 point, 13 rebound double-double. 

After shooting 35% in the first half, Walsh shot 53% in the second half as they finished with a shooting percentage of 44%. 

The Cavaliers will host Carnegie Mellon on December 31st at 1:00 PM as they wind down 2019 at Alumni Arena. 

-WC-