Jan. 16, 2008

North Canton, Ohio -- NAIA No. 4 Walsh (Ohio) led from start to finish in defeating sixth ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) (14-2, 2-1 AMC S) 75-70 in an American Mideast Conference South Division game on Tuesday (Jan. 15).  The win was the sixth straight for the Cavs and improved their record to 14-2 overall and to 3-0 in the AMC South.  The Cavs are at Cedarville University for an AMC South contest on Saturday at 7:30 pm.  The game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the Internet at www.wcer.us.

Walsh raced to a 13-0 lead in the first five plus minutes and led 24-6 with 10:13 to play in the first half.  Mt. Vernon then rallied and trimmed the Cavs led to 34-26 at the half.  Walsh started the second half as they did the first, and expanded the lead back to 17 points at 43-26 with 17:25 to play.  It was here that the sixth ranked Cougars came to life.  Within a little less than five minutes, Mt. Vernon climbed back into the game and cut the Walsh lead to 45-41 with 12:56 to play.  From this point on the game was nip and tuck.

Mt. Vernon cut the lead to one point four times, the final time at 71-70 with 54 seconds to play.  However, each time the Cavs responded.  Josh Johnson (6-4, Jr., Warren, OH/Harding) stole the ball and then hit two free throws with six seconds to put the Cavs up 73-70.  After another MVNU turnover, Johnson hit two more free throws to ice the game.  He finished with 11 points, all in the second half.

Eder Araujo (7-0, Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete de Freitas) recorded a double-double with a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds.  Corey Jones (6-3, Sr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Kyelce Cescato (6-0, So., Barra Bonita, Brazil/Colmeia Entec) each scored 14 points.  Brandon Weems (5-10, Sr., Akron, OH/ St. Vincent-St. Mary) had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.  Ben Falkenberg led MVNU with 21 points.