Almost losing for the first time since November on Thursday at Malone, the Oilers' second strip to Stark County this week is a lot more enjoyable.

NORTH CANTON  Any thought of a rare Findlay slump was squashed by the Oilers on Saturday.

Almost 48 hours after losing for the first time since November, the nation's 11th-ranked team is back on track. The Oilers are also ready to welcome back a Great Midwest Athletic Conference MVP candidate after initially fearing the worst.

A dominant final 10 minutes by Findlay helped the Oilers hold off Walsh 72-60 at Alumni Arena. The Cavaliers cut a 17-point deficit to one in the second half, but the Oilers were able to regroup and earn a share of the G-MAC regular season championship. They are 21-3 overall and 15-1 in the league.

Findlay's last trip to Stark County ended with an 11-point loss at Malone. It was the Oilers' first game without senior forward Taren Sullivan (ankle injury), but there was no time for them to dwell on the loss to the Pioneers or the absence of their leading scorer.

"We try to have a short term memory after every loss," Findlay junior forward Trey Smith said. "We knew that after losing Taren that we would have to adjust to some things and we did a really good job of that."

The good news for Findlay is that Sullivan is close to returning. He averages 18 points and just over six rebounds a game.

"He's going to start to practice on Monday," Oilers head coach Charlie Ernst said. "We thought when he went down he was done for the season. For him to come back as quick as he has is a blessing, but it doesn't mean that he won't have a setback. At this point, we're hoping he can get some minutes Thursday night."

The Cavs (15-6, 10-5) were hoping to take advantage of a short-handed Findlay team and continue the momentum from Thursday's emotional win over Hillsdale. Darryl Straughter's 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted Walsh to a one-point win over the second-place Chargers.

In their third game in five days, Walsh could not keep the momentum going early on. The Cavs shot just 34.5 percent in the first half and trailed 41-28 at halftime.

"Our focus wasn't very good," Cavs head coach Jeff Young said. "I give Findlay a lot of credit. They muscled us. They played real physical and took us out of some things. With Sullivan out of the game, they went big against Malone and changed their lineup against us and went small. They started another guard instead of a big, and I think it was really effective for them."

The Cavs made their biggest push after falling behind 47-31 less than a minute into the second half. The guard trio of Straughter, Steven Carpenter and Bo Furcron led the way,

Straughter buried back-to-back 3-pointers to get Walsh within 49-45. A Furcron 3 made it 49-48.

The Cavs never caught the Oilers. Carpenter's layup with 6:29 left cut Findlay lead to 60-55 with 6:29 left, but the Oilers ran off the next 10 points to end any doubt.

Carpenter led Walsh with 18 points. Straughter and Furcron, a pair of freshman starters, finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

"They have some outstanding young kids," Ernst said of Straughter and Furcron. "They're a handful. I think it says a lot about them as freshmen that they put their team on their backs."

After winning five straight, the Cavs went 1-2 in their three games in five days stretch. They remain a half game behind second-place Hillsdale in the G-MAC, but are now a half game ahead of fourth-place Malone.

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