Hitting their stride: Defense helps keep Walsh men's basketball team a G-MAC title threat

NORTH CANTON — The Walsh University men's basketball team found itself in a bad spot during the holiday season.

Three losses in their first four Great Midwest Athletic Conference games left the Cavaliers facing an uphill battle in the league race. One thing on their side was time.

They have made the most of it.

Walsh (16-4, 10-4) heads into Thursday's game at Ashland in a three-way tie with Cedarville and Kentucky Wesleyan for first place. The Cavs have won 11 of 12 since their 1-3 start in the G-MAC. Their only loss came on Jan. 27 at Kentucky Wesleyan.

It's easy for head coach Jeff Young to zero in on what fueled the turnaround.

"From a team standpoint our defense keeps moving up," Young said. "At one point I think we might have been fifth or sixth in the country in points allowed."

Young said this last week after Walsh held Hillsdale to 51 points in a 14-point win over the Falcons. The Cavs started this week ranked fifth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense at 62.6 points a game. They also lead the G-MAC and are ranked 13th in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 40.1%.

MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 'Don't give up:' Malvern's Michael Minor shooting for final basketball comeback at Walsh

The only thing the Cavs want to look flashy is their win total.

"We started to put an emphasis on defense, rebounding and not turning the ball over," Walsh junior swingman Garrison Keeslar said. "We changed our mentality, and a lot of guys have stepped up in the last month and a half."

MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 'Locked in': Walsh men's basketball team refocuses, beats rival Malone in overtime

Kobe Mitchell's first season with the Cavs has been a successful one. The Akron transfer averages a team-best 17.4 points and leads Walsh in 3-pointers made with 63.

Keeslar averages 15.9 points and is playing his best basketball of the season. He scored 35 points, including his 1,000th all-time, to tie a career high in the Jan. 27 loss to Kentucky Wesleyan.

A fadeaway Keeslar 3-pointer helped Walsh close out Hillsdale last week. He would not have been in that position without the defensive mindset he had the entire night. Keeslar's career-high tying four steals helped the Cavs wipe out a 16-point deficit.

"We really locked in, and they only scored 18 points in the second half," Keeslar said. "That's what really won us the game. Our offense came off our defense. It was a team effort defensively."

The Cavs hope defense can win them a championship. They still have big hurdles to clear, especially this week.

Ashland handed the Cavs their first G-MAC loss of the season. Rival Malone, which visits Saturday, built a 16-point lead in the first meeting. Walsh rallied for a 79-71 overtime win.

After the way their G-MAC season started, the Cavs are just thankful to be in the championship conversation.

"We're starting to hit our stride at the right time," Keeslar said. "Guys are stepping up. That's huge for us."

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On X: @mpopovichREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Walsh University men's basketball team charges back in league race