NORTH CANTON, Ohio - For the third time in the last four seasons, the Great Midwest Men's Basketball Tournament title calls North Canton, Ohio home as the Walsh Cavaliers were victorious in the 2022 Great Midwest Tournament Final on Saturday (March 5). 

Walsh closes the G-MAC tournament with a 23-6 record and finds itself in the NCAA Tournament for the third time, the first time since 2020 - when the tournament was canceled. Walsh is in line for the Midwest Region #1 seed and a host spot for the regional. 

Cedarville led for the first ten minutes of the game, pushing the lead to as many as six twice. Over a three minute span near the halfway point, Walsh scored a 6-0 run to tie the game at 17 with 9:48 left. After Cedarville went up four (25-21), Tim Smith Jr. scored six points on an 8-0 run as Walsh gained a 29-25 lead with 3:56 to go before the half. Overall, Walsh ended the half on a 16-5 run to lead 37-30 at halftime. Walsh never looked back as they extended the lead to 21 in the second half. Walsh went the final 25:06 with the lead for the win. 

Garrison Keeslar led the Cavaliers and all scorers with 18 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. He had seven field goals on 11 tries with four free throws. Tim Smith Jr. scored 16 points with five field goals and five free throws. Luke Howes had 12 points with three assists and two steals. 

Walsh shot 59.2% for the game, hitting 29-of-49 shots and made 82.4% of their free throw attempts. 

The NCAA selection show will debut the 2022 NCAA Regional brackets on Sunday (March 6) at 10:30 PM. 

-WC-