NCAA college basketball I Malone finishes off four-game season sweep of rival Walsh

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CANTON — You don’t often see four-game basketball sweeps involving Malone and Walsh.

This season was an exception.

Bragging rights for 2024-25 — at least in the the regular season — belong to Malone. The Pioneers men’s and women’s teams pulled away to win both Mayors’ Cup games Tuesday at Osborne Hall. Malone also swept both games at Walsh in January.

A big second half lifted the Malone women’s team to a 70-49 victory and the men’s team to a 69-55 win. Here’s how they did it.

Malone’s Abbey Price goes up for a layup with pressure from from Walsh’s Sydney Ludvigsen in the first half at Malone Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

Defense, toughness help Malone men erase 11-point defecit

The Pioneers trailed by as many as 11 and were down 39-30 at halftime in the men’s game.

The message inside the Malone locker room was clear.

“At halftime we challenged them to fight more defensively,” Malone head coach Charlie Wallrapp said. “It seemed like Walsh was desperate, and we had to match that or supersede it.”

The Pioneers heeded Wallrapp’s message. They held the Cavaliers to 4-of-24 shooting (0-of-9 from 3-point range) and 16 points in the second half.

“Holding a team to 16 points in a half, especially in the second half, is great basketball,” Malone guard Tre Baumgardner III said. “Everybody buying in on the defensive end definitely led to that W.”

Malone’s sharp shooting from beyond the arc also led to the win.

The Pioneers were 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the second half. Each one of Ryan Bartley’s three second-half 3s felt huge.

Walsh’s Alycia Triplett works to get free from Malone defense in the first half at Malone Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

Baumgarder was on fire. He hit six 3s on the night and finished with a game-high 21 points.

“We were sharing the ball really well,” Baumgardner said. “That definitely contributes to us making shots.

“Truth be told, we actually have been shooting the ball really well. Shots weren’t going in. We’re getting great shots in prior games and they weren’t…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-college-basketball-malone-finishes-110821455.html

Author : The Repository

Publish date : 2025-02-12 11:08:00

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