NORTH CANTON, Ohio - Following a 13-day layoff due to COVID-19 game postponements, the Walsh Cavaliers men's basketball team got back on the court Saturday (Jan. 23) afternoon at Alumni Arena. The Cavaliers got their second straight win of the season, a 73-61 victory over the Ohio Valley Fighting Scots as they improved to 4-1 (4-1) on the year. 

• Score: Walsh 73, Ohio Valley 61
• Location: North Canton, Ohio (Alumni Arena)
• Records: Walsh 4-1 (4-1), Ohio Valley 1-7 (1-7)

The Short Story: Walsh led wire-to-wire as they never trailed to the Fighting Scots in the contest. The Cavaliers led by as many as 11 in the first half before the Fighting Scots trimmed the deficit to eight at halftime, 34-26. Ohio Valley used an 9-2 run after halftime to pull within one point, 36-35. Christian Simmons scored back-to-back baskets as the lead grew to 40-35 with 13:44 left. With the Cavaliers up 40-38, Walsh went on a 13-0 run over four minutes as the lead ballooned to 53-38 with 8:41 left. Three different players (Milan Square, Kaleb Martin and Christian Montague) all hit threes on the run while Martin and Simmons added layups for Walsh. The Cavaliers led by as many as 16 in the second half with the Fighting Scots getting no closer than eight after then. 

OPENING TIP

• Darryl Straughter led all scorers with 17 points on seven-of-13 shooting (three-of-eight from deep). He grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.
• Simmons scored 14 points, all in the second half with six field goals, one three and one free throw. 
• Caleb Canter led the Cavaliers with ten rebounds and three blocks to go with six points.
• Square was a perfect four-for-four from three-point land on Saturday, finishing with 12 points in 19 minutes off the bench.
• Martin converted all four free throws he attempted in an nine-point effort off the bench.
• Montague returned to the court for the first time this season, tallying ten points on four-of-11 shooting. 

THE DIFFERENCE 

• Walsh got 35 points from their bench on Saturday with the key contributions of Simmons, Square and Martin. 26 of those bench points were in the second half of the game. 11 of the 13 points for the 13-0 run were scored by bench players when Walsh expanded the lead.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS 

• Walsh finished the game shooting 45.8% (27-59) while holding Ohio Valley to just 35.9% (23-64) overall. Walsh made ten three pointers as Ohio Valley countered with six treys.
• With the wire-to-wire win, Walsh led for 38:58 and was tied for 1:02.
• The Cavaliers were outrebounded by the Fighting Scots 45-36, including 11-5 on the offensive end. 
• Ohio Valley had two double-doubles from Keon Claiborne (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Parker Black (14 points, 10 rebounds).

NOTABLE

• Walsh is 14-0 overall against Ohio Valley and 9-0 in the Division II era.
• Dating back to December 2019, Walsh has won 14 straight home games (4th longest streak in D2). 

NEXT UP

• Walsh will make up a December home game with Tiffin on Monday (Jan. 25) night. Tipoff from Alumni Arena will be 7:30 PM against the Dragons.

-WC-