Findlay Falls in Croy | Lose to Walsh 76-49
Findlay, Ohio- The last nineteen days have been tough for the University of Findlay men's basketball team, and that continued tonight as the Oilers struggled to score on Thursday, Feb. 16, coming up on the short end of a 76-49 final at the hands of the Walsh University Cavaliers. With the loss, Findlay has now lost five of their last six and fall to 13-12 overall with a 8-9 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Meanwhile, Walsh improves to 17-8 with a 13-4 mark in the conference.
The contest started in favor of the Cavaliers as they took an early 5-0 lead. From there, the Oilers continued to trail. Findlay trailed by just two at the fourteen minute mark of the first half but Walsh went on a twenty point run to leave the Oilers down 29-7 with eight minutes remaining in the half.
Walsh couldn't be caught as the game would not be within single digits for the rest of the night as the visiting team, which last season hosted the G-MAC and NCAA Midwest Regional tournaments, would go on to a 27-point victory, the largest margin of victory in a loss by the Oilers in the history of Croy Gymnasium.
Findlay struggled from the floor, hitting just 33.9% (19-of-56) of their shots, lowest single-game shooting percentage of the season for the Orange and Black. Walsh, on the other hand, was red-hot, making 27-of-53 (42.1%) from the floor. The last time the Oilers scored under 50 points was in the 2014-15 season when they lost to Ashland 80-47.
Down low, Walsh had their way, outscoring Findlay 36-to-22 in the paint and dominating the glass as they grabbed 40 rebounds to just 25 for the home team.
Senior Deven Stover led the Oilers in scoring with nine points and three rebounds. Leading Findlay in that statistic was senior Nathan Bruns who recorded four boards while also chipping in eight points. Freshman Jagger Landers also contributed eight points.
Findlay will round-out their regular season matchups with three vital conference contests. They face Cedarville on Saturday, Feb. 18 before traveling to Tiffin on Thursday, Feb. 23. They will then conclude their season with Hillsdale on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Oilers are currently ninth in the Great Midwest standings, with just eight teams advancing to the conference tournament.