ASHLAND, OH: A victory over the Ashland Eagles wasn't the only momentous occasion this evening at Ashland University. The 15th team in the nation and 5th team in the NCAA Midwest Regional earned an outright Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship. The title comes after an 11-15 season just a year ago.
Along with the clinching win, senior,
Zack Oddo scored his 1,000 career point. Needing just four coming in to the contest, Oddo scored 9 to reach this milestone. He joins a list of over 27 men who have scored over 1,000 career points for the Cavalier Men's Basketball program. Fellow senior,
Kobe Mitchell, reached his 1,000th point back in December.
Tonight's key to victory was hot offense from the Maroon and Gold. The Cavaliers shot 58.6% in the first half, including 9 of 12 from behind the arc to grab a 9 point halftime lead. Up by as much as 13 in the second half, the Cavalier shooting cooled off from behind the arc as the Men went 3 for 10. The still shot 51.9% in the final 20 minutes.
Leading for all but the first 2 minutes and 6 seconds, the comfortable Walsh lead got a little uncomfortable as a second half push from Ashland cut the deficit to as close as 3 points with 7:05 to go. Key buckets by
Brayden Gross and
Quintero Barnett pushed the lead back to 8 but it quickly went back to 4 points with 4:05 to play. A quick 5-0 run by the Cavs helped solidify the win as the final parts of the game were free throws, pushing Walsh to victory.
Next up, Walsh will host Malone for the Mayor's Cup. Saturday's tip off is set for 3pm.
LOCATION: Charles Kates Gym
SCORE: #15 WU 86 - AU 74
RECORDS: #15 WU 23-3 (16-3), AU 19-8 (13-6)
FOR THE CAVS
