Road Struggles Continue | Oilers Beaten by Walsh
North Canton, Ohio – The road has not been kind to the University of Findlay men's basketball team this season, and that continued today as the Oilers struggled to score on Saturday, Feb. 4, coming up on the short end of a 77-51 final at the hands of the Walsh University Cavaliers. With that defeat, the Oilers have dropped three straight and fall to 12-10 overall with a 7-7 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. On the flip side, Walsh improves to 15-7 with a 12-3 mark in the conference, remaining tied with Hillsdale College at the top of the conference standings.
For ten minutes, the teams traded buckets and it was actually the Oilers who held a 14-12 lead through the first portion of the first half. However, over the next seven minutes, Findlay shot 1-for-7 from the floor and committed five turnovers, helping lead to a 15-2 run for the Cavaliers.
Once Walsh took a 31-21 lead with a minute to play in the first half, the game would not be within single digits for the rest of the afternoon as the home team, which last season hosted the G-MAC and NCAA Midwest Regional tournaments, would go on to a 26-point victory.
Findlay struggled from the floor, hitting just 36.5% (19-of-52) of their shots, lowest single-game shooting percentage of the season for the Orange and Black. Walsh, on the other hand, did not shoot the ball well either, making 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the floor, but using the strength of 11 made triples to pick up the win.
Turnovers were an issue for Findlay as well as the Oilers posted 15 miscues for the second consecutive game, both tied for the second-most amount of turnovers in a game this year.
Down low, Walsh had their way, outscoring Findlay 20-to-18 in the paint, but dominating the glass as they grabbed 40 rebounds to just 28 for the visiting team.
Senior Joey Edmonds led Findlay in scoring with 17 points and also led the team with five rebounds. Sophomore Josh Thorbahn scored 16 in a starting role. He grabbed four rebounds and had two steals, as well.
Senior Nathan Bruns and junior Andrew Owens each scored five for the Oilers. Bruns had four rebounds and three assists while Owens had two assists, two steals, and a block.
Findlay heads south next week for an important finale to this four-game road stretch. The Oilers will first take on the Trevecca Nazarene Trojans on Thursday, Feb. 9 before playing the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 11.
Those games can be watched on the Great Midwest Digital Network.