The Malone University men's basketball team will make the short trip to North Canton on Tuesday evening to take on archrival Walsh University in the quarterfinal round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament.
The Pioneers, who are making their third straight G-MAC Postseason appearance under head coach
Casey Kaufman, are seeded seventh among the tournament's eight teams while the Cavaliers enter the event as the No. 2 seed.
GameDay
3/5 Malone at Walsh – 7:30 pm
Live Video/Stats:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/walsh/
G-MAC Tournament Webpage:
https://greatmidwestsports.com/tournaments/?id=48&path=mbball
Bracket:
https://greatmidwestsports.com/documents/2019/3/2//2019_Men_s_Basketball_Tournament_Bracket_1.pdf
What's At Stake
The winner of Tuesday's contest will advance to the G-MAC Semifinals on Friday to face the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 6 seed Lake Erie College and No. 3 seed Hillsdale College. The G-MAC Championship Game will follow on Saturday. The G-MAC Semifinals and Final will be played on the home court of the highest-remaining seed following Tuesday's Quarterfinal Round. The G-MAC Tournament Champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament.
Series History
The two teams split this year's matchups with the Pioneers claiming a 69-62 victory at Walsh on January 12 and the Cavaliers defeating Malone 75-61 in Osborne Hall on February 23. The Cavaliers lead the all-time series 78-41.
Postseason History
Walsh has won 11 of the 14 all-time postseason meetings between the two teams. The last playoff game between Malone and Walsh occurred in 2008, a contest Walsh won by a final score of 82-60. The Pioneers' last postseason win over the Cavaliers came in 1999 by an 83-76 final.
Team Comparison (G-MAC Rank in parentheses)
| Malone |
Category |
Walsh |
| 73.9 (7) |
Points |
79.5 (3) |
| 70.2 (5) |
Pts Allowed |
65.1 (2) |
| +3.7 (7) |
Scoring Margin |
+14.4 (2) |
| 44.9% (7) |
FG% |
47.0% (4) |
| 45.1% (8) |
Opponent FG% |
40.1% (1) |
| 36.8% (5) |
3-Point% |
38.3% (1) |
| 8.8 (5) |
3-Point FG Made |
10.8 (1) |
| 61.6% (13) |
FT% |
62.2% (12) |
| 35.8 (7) |
Rebounds |
39.7 (2) |
| +0.5 (8) |
Rebound Margin |
+6.2 (2) |
| 5.2 (11) |
Steals |
5.6 (10) |
| +0.89 (6) |
Turnover Margin |
+1.14 (5) |
Malone Notes
-Malone, currently 15-13 overall, has guaranteed itself a winning record for the third straight year. The Pioneers have now reached 14 or more victories in three straight seasons under head coach
Casey Kaufman and the team will be looking to add to their win total as March Madness ensues
-Last March, Ohio Dominican University, the eventual G-MAC Tournament Champion, topped the Pioneers in the opening round of the conference tourney. Two years ago, Malone knocked off Cedarville University in the G-MAC quarterfinals before falling to nationally-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan College in the semifinals.
-
Nate Sheppard totaled 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's loss to Lake Erie. He ended the regular season as the G-MAC scoring leader with an average of 19.4 points per game, led the conference in minutes played (959) and was third in three-pointers made with 80.
-
Bryce Butler averaged 21.3 points over the final three games of the regular season. He scored 25 in the loss to Walsh on Feb. 23 and 22 points against Lake Erie on Saturday. On the season, the junior ranked 12th in the conference in scoring (15.8 ppg), 11th in field-goal percentage (48.4%) and 11th in minutes played (31.1%). Butler also drained 47.1% (48 of 102) of his three-pointers which would have ranked second in the G-MAC (if he would have met the minimum number of attempts)
-
Daylan Haynie ranks second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1) and third in assists (5.0 per game). He is also averaging 8.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per outing and ranks sixth in the G-MAC with an average of 32.8 minutes per game
-Forward
Marcus Ernst ranks sixth in the G-MAC in rebounding this year with 8.3 boards per outing. He is also eleventh in blocked shots (23) and is scoring an average of 7.6 points per game
-Forward
Ben Evans is shooting 40.2% from three-point range this season while averaging 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game
-Guard
Jaret Majestic hit six three-pointers and scored a season-high 20 points in the win at Walsh back in January. The sophomore has knocked down 52 treys on the season and is averaging 7.2 points off the bench this season
-Forward
Sehill Mouliom has provided valuable minutes off the bench this year and is averaging 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per outing
-Malone is 6-7 in games played away from Osborne Hall this year
Walsh Notes -
Roster |
Schedule |
Stats
-Walsh enters Tuesday's game on a 10-game winning streak. The Cavs last played on Thursday as they downed Lake Erie 75-59
-Last season, Walsh's first year as G-MAC members, the Cavaliers were seeded second in the conference tournament but were eliminated in the opening round with a 76-67 loss to seventh-seeded Lake Erie
-The Cavaliers are 14-1 on their home court this season. The loss to Malone is the only blemish to their record at Alumni Arena this year
-Freshman JT Shumate ranked second in the G-MAC in scoring this year with 19.1 points per game, second in three-point percentage (44.9%), fifth in field-goal percentage, and third in blocked shots (39). Shumate scored 22 in the loss to Malone in January but was held to 11 in the win over the Pioneers in February
-Forward Sterling Christy piled up 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in the win against Malone on Feb. 23. On the season, the 6'7" junior averaged 13.5 points per game while ranking second in the conference in rebounding (9.9 per game), second in field-goal percentage (55.8%), eighth in assists (3.4), and fourth in blocked shots (1.3)
-Guard Darryl Straughter posted a team-high 23 points in the most recent contest with the Pioneers. The Canton McKinley product ranked ninth in the G-MAC this year in scoring (15.9 ppg), first in free-throw percentage (90.9%) and led the league in three-pointers made (82)
