FINDLAY, Ohio – Second-seeded Walsh stunned No. 1 seed Findlay on its home court in Saturday’s Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship final, 58-52, in overtime.
For Walsh, it just started a remarkable day for the basketball programs of both genders as the Cavaliers cashed in on the conference’s automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional.
Head coach Jeff Young navigated his team to a 13th consecutive victory, sustaining a remarkable postseason run culminating with the conference tournament title.
For Findlay, it was not the outcome the favored Oilers were hoping for. After exiting in the semifinals last year as the top seed, the sixth-ranked team in the country and third-ranked team in the region, fell just a little bit short of the desired result.
Findlay’s path to the NCAA Championship as back-to-back conference regular-season champs and consecutive Sweet 16 contestant, will go through the selection show as an at-large selection.
The NCAA Championship Midwest Regional will almost certainly feature two Great Midwest programs when the Selection Show is aired live tomorrow night on NCAA.com at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The rims were unkind to both teams as shooting percentages were well below the norms of what UF and WU have been able to produce in the regular season. It also maybe have been a product of a little bit of fatigue setting in from playing back-to-back days in the postseason.
It was a game to remember for redshirt junior Sterling Christy, whose tenacity on both ends of the floor had him just shy of an unconventional triple-double. The burly forward gave the Cavaliers a chess piece to play with defensively while matching up against Great Midwest Player of the Year Alex White.
White, who blew up for 32 points on the strength of six three-point baskets, had a tough time getting tracked as he finished 5-for-17 from the field.
Christy produced 10 points, 13 rebounds and swatted a new single-game conference record nine blocked shots to really set the tone. Each block results in a missed shot attempt for Findlay in the box score and the Oilers labored to a very uncharacteristic 30 percent shooting (21-70) outing.
Walsh was just slightly better at 35.5 percent as Great Midwest Freshman of the Year JT Shumate added 16 points and six rebounds with his shot not falling with regularity like fans have been accustomed to (6-24).
Four of the five Walsh starters were in double figure scoring, featuring a little more balance following Friday night's semifinal win over No. 3 Hillsdale.
Two key plays directly impacted the final score, including one at the end of regulation. After a Darryl Straighter missed three that would have snapped a 46-46 tie, UF’s Tommy Schmock heaved from beyond half court as time expired and his shot was centered, but long on the back iron.
Then in overtime with about 12 seconds left, sophomore forward Caleb Canter bulled his way into the paint for a huge and 1 sequence as he absorbed the contact and got the kind roll. Canter made the free throw to put Walsh up by four with under 10 seconds to go.