February 26, 2008

Malone Falls To Walsh In AMC Championship Game; Will Host AMC Tournament Semifinal Contest On Saturday

 
The Malone College men’s basketball team suffered an 82-60 loss in the American Mideast Conference Championship Game to local rival Walsh University on Tuesday evening as the host Cavaliers took command of the contest by outscoring the Pioneers 24-4 over the final eight minutes of the first half.  An early 12-2 run put Malone in front 24-17 at the 8:15 mark of the opening stanza, but it was all Walsh from that point on as the Cavaliers held the Pioneers to just four free throws over the remainder of the first half to take a 41-28 advantage into the locker room at intermission.  Malone was then unable to cut into the 13-point deficit over the remainder of the contest as Walsh stretched its lead to as many as 27 points in the final frame en route to 82-60 victory.
 
The win gives the NAIA Division II #6 Cavaliers (25-4) one of the conference’s two automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament.  The AMC’s other automatic bid will be awarded to the winner of the six-team AMC Tournament which will be contested Feb. 28, Mar. 1, and Mar. 4.  Following Tuesday’s loss, Malone (20-9) becomes the AMC Tournament’s #1 seed and will receive a first-round bye (along with the tournament’s #2 seed, Cedarville University).  The Pioneers will host a semifinal contest on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s opening round game between #5 seed Notre Dame (OH) College and #4 seed Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
 
Walsh made over 48% (31 of 64) of its shots from the field in Tuesday’s game while holding Malone to 40% (22 of 55) shooting on the night, including just 33.3% (8 of 24) in the first half.  The Cavaliers also knocked down 10 of their 23 (43.5%) three-pointers, connected on 10 of 13 (76.9%) free throws, and held a 38-31 advantage in total rebounds.
 
Senior forward Tyler Renner (Garaway H.S.) led the way for the Pioneers with 21 points (8-16 FG, 3-7 3PT FG, 2-2 FT) and six rebounds.  Senior center Shane Humphrey (Loudonville H.S.) added 11 points and seven boards while senior guard Ben Carver (Shelby H.S.) also notched 11 points.
 
Brandon Weems paced Walsh with 22 points (8-14 FG, 5-6 3PT FG, 1-1 FT) and four assists.  Eder Araujo followed with 16 points and eight rebounds with Kyelce Cescato contributing 10 points and 10 boards.
 
Pioneer Notes: With seven rebounds on Tuesday, Shane Humphrey moved into the Top 20 on Malone’s all-time rebounding list and now ranks 20th with 579 career boards…Carver also moved up on the rebounding list on Tuesday as he now ranks 40th with 401 career rebounds.
 
 
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