NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team suffered a 81-60 setback, falling to Walsh University in Great Midwest Athletic Conference action on Saturday.

Adam Goetz opened the scoring with a three before Tyler Bezold fueled the Panthers to a hot start.  Bezold drained back-to-back three's and scored eight of the Panther's 11 points in the first four minutes of action.

With the game knotted at 11, the Cavaliers responded with a 6-0 run of their own before Zach Hopewell halted their momentum with a three-point basket.  Erik Bell knocked back a jumper in the paint to cut Wesleyan's deficit to one before the Cavs pulled away again and took a 43-29 lead to the break.

The Panthers improve their shooting percentage by nearly eight percent in the second half, while Walsh's decreased by over 13%. 

Goetz put a spark in the Panther offense, scoring a lay up that would start a 17-5 run for the Panthers.  Wesleyan scored on three straight possessions including a three from Cameron Cartwright, and two straight lay ups from Mohamed Abu Arisha to trim the deficit to seven with just under 11 minutes remaining.

Abu Arisha went on to score four straight lay ups for Wesleyan before Bell drained a fast break jumper to make it a six-point game with 8:11 remaining.

Walsh pulled away with nine straight points and held a double digit lead the remainder of the game.

Abu Arisha led the Panthers with 16 points off the bench while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.  Goetz finished with 14 points and seven rebounds while Bezold tabbed 12 points.  Tarik Dixon paved the way with three assists.

The Panthers return home next week for their final home stand of the regular season.  Wesleyan hosts Davis & Elkins on Thursday followed by Alderson Broaddus on Saturday.  Saturday's match up marks both Senior Day and Alumni Day at the Owensboro Sportscenter.

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