OWENSBORO, KY - The Walsh Cavaliers came into Saturday's contest riding high, having won eight in a row. Wesleyan decided to spoil their party, taking down the Cavaliers for the second time this year in a close 81-77 battle. Leading the way for Wesleyan was the trio of Kennedy Miles, Borja Fernandez, and Kaeveon Mitchell, who combined to score 60 of the Panther's 81 points. 

Wesleyan improves to 13-6 (7-4 G-MAC), while Walsh falls to 13-4 (7-4 G-MAC). 

Despite the close nature of the game, Wesleyan never trailed. A Kaeveon Mitchell three put Wesleyan up to open the game, and they never slowed down. A 6-0 run a few minutes later capped off by an Aleksa Rakic layup put the Panthers up 20-8 with 12:25 remaining in the half. Walsh inched closer the rest of the half, eventually cutting it to just four (32-28) with 2:51 remaining. Big man Borja Fernandez wouldn't let the visitors get any closer before halftime, as he scored seven straight points widen the gap. After a late bucket by Walsh's Zack Oddo, the Panthers went into the break up 39-30. 

To their credit, Walsh was never out of this game, keeping Wesleyan within arms reach the entire time. The problem for the Cavliers was that the Panthers had two players by the name of Kennedy Miles and Kaeveon Mitchell. Whenever a big shot was needed, one of them showed up. With 12 minutes left in the game and their lead down to five, Kaeveon Mitchell silenced the Cavalier faithful with a corner three to make it an eight point ball game. About six minutes later and up by just six, Kennedy Miles hit a jumper, then found Fernadez for a big and-1 that gave the Panthers some breathing room. Mitchell hit two threes over the final three minutes, and Alex Gray sunk two free throws with three seconds left to seal the win. One of the biggest plays of the game came from Edward Jones Jr., who, after missing two free throws that would have all but sealed the win, came down and blocked Walsh's Garrison Keeslar's game tying layup attempt on the very next play. 

Coach Drew Cooper has this team rolling, as this is their best start since the 2016-17 campaign. 

Both teams shot it well from the floor, with Wesleyan going 30-54 (55.6%) and Walsh coming in at 29-58 (50%). The difference in the game was three-point shooting, as Wesleyan was 8-21 (38.1%) while Walsh finished just 5-21 (23.8%). The Panthers were out rebounded 35-22, but only turned the ball over seven times, compared to 12 for Walsh. 

Kennedy Miles led the Panthers with 22 points, while Borja Fernandez finished with 20 on 8-13 shooting and Kaeveon Mitchell scored 18 while tying a career high with five threes. Edward Jones Jr. led with seven boards and two blocks, while Miles was tops on the team with five assists and three steals. 

Wesleyan has an important week ahead of them as they travel to take on Ohio Dominican and Malone, two teams that sit near the bottom of the G-MAC standings. The Panther's next home contest will come on Saturday, February 10th, when they host the Cedarville Yellow Jackets, who currently sit at the No. 1 spot in the conference standings. 

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