Archive for December, 2011

Shooting 64 percent from three-point range, Youngstown State senior forward DuShawn Brooks (Chicago, Ill./Thornton) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, for the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 4.  The accolade is the first of Brooks’ career, while the senior is the first player from Youngstown State to collect the honors since Jan. 11, 2010.

Helping Youngstown State (5-2 1-1 Horizon) open with a road split in the first weekend of Horizon League play, Brooks averaged 20.5 points per game, knocking down 9-of-14 three-point attempts as the Penguins knocked off Detroit, 64-61, before suffering a 63-62 defeat at Wright State on Saturday.

In the conference-opening victory at Detroit, Brooks carried Youngstown State down the stretch, scoring 11 straight points to turn a five-point deficit into a late lead. In the spurt, Brooks knocked down three attempts from long distance, finishing the game 6-of-9 from three-point range. Brooks’ 24 points in the win were a career high.  The senior followed up the effort by going 3-for-5 from three-point range en route to 17 points on Saturday. On the week, Brooks went 16-for-26 from the field.

Through the first month of the season, Brooks is part of a YSU offense that is leading the Horizon League in three-point shooting, attempting 23.6 threes per game. The Penguins are knocking down a League-best 39.4 percent of those attempts.

Returning to non-conference play, the Penguins welcome Fredonia State to the Beeghly Center on Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a 7:45 p.m. ET tip. The game will be carried live on the Horizon League Network. On Saturday, the Penguins travel to Buffalo, N.Y., for a 7 p.m. ET game against the MAC’s Buffalo.

The Youngstown State men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the WATTS on a very high note on Friday at the YSU Invitational. It was the first meet held in the new state-of-the-art facility.  Participating in the event were Duquesne, Robert Morris, Buffalo State, Slippery Rock, Clarion, and John Carroll.

Bobby Grace won the shot put with a career-best toss of 17.73 meters. Grace’s mark was the third-longest toss in school history. John Seaver was second with a 15.53 and Benjamin Goodnight was fifth at 14.68m. The Penguins took the top four places in the men’s weight throw. George Thomas was first with a throw of 17.19 meters, Grace was second at 16.33m, Caleb Schwan was third at 16.08m and Goodnight was fourth at 15.64m.

Katrina Rettburg took first place in the high jump with a leap of 1.71 meters. Rettburg’s jump was just .02 meters shy of her school mark which she set last yaer. YSU’s Makayla Martin was second at 1.68m while Leanna Hartsough was third at 1.62m.  Laura Kosiorek won the 60m hurdles with a career-best time of 8.85 seconds.  Nichole Rymer was third with a time of 9.01 seconds.

Martin Solomon won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.29 seconds while Clay Febus was second with a personal-best mark of 8.36 seconds. Solomon placed seventh in the 400-meter dash.  Brandon Pasvanis was second in the men’s mile with a time of 4:37.90 while Aron Korir was fourth at 4:51.91.

YSU soccer player Heather Coonfare was the Penguins’ top finisher in the mile run with a time of 5:40.34. Coonfare placed fourth out of nine runners.  Aaron Hartsough placed second in the high jump with a leap of 1.92 meters. The Penguins’ Megan Wesner tied for fourth with a toss of 13.55 meters in the weight throw in her collegiate debut.  In the women’s shot put, Alison Roth was second with a toss of 13.92 meters while KaiCee Kubicina was fourth with a throw of 12.42 meters.

In the women’s 800-meter, Alexis Cooper was fourth with a time of 2:28.09 while Coonfare was fifth clocking a time of 2:29.42.  In the women’s 200-meter dash, Taylor Entzi was fifth with a time of 26.30 seconds while Alexis Washington was sixth at 26.37 seconds. In the long jump, Kendall Homan was fifth with a leap of 5.19 meters.

Brittany Stockmaster finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:36.25.

In the 4×400-meter relay (above photo, courtesy Ron Stevens), the YSU women were first with a time of 4:05.2 finishing ahead of Duquesne. Running for the women were Washington, Entzi, Alteeka Vanwright and Nichole Pachol. In the 400-meter relay for the men, YSU placed third.

The Penguins return to action on Jan. 13 when they participate in the Akron Quad.

Wright State’s Armond Battle made a free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining to lift the Raiders past the Youngstown State men’s basketball team, 63-62, on Saturday afternoon at the Nutter Center.  The Penguins fell to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Horizon League while the Raiders improve to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in the league.

Senior DuShawn Brooks led the Guins with 17 points while Blake Allen scored 15 and junior Damian Eargle had 10 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

Once trailing by five, 62-57, with 2:45 to go, Allen knotted the game at 62-62 with 1:32 left, and after an offensive foul by WSU’s AJ Pacher, Allen’s shot to give Youngstown State the lead was off the mark, which set up Battle’s heroics.

The Penguins, who led by as many as 17 points in the first half, 30-13, shot just 28 percent in the second half and made just two 3-pointers after shooting 52 percent in the first, including going 9-of-15 from 3-point range.

Leading by three, 16-13, with 10:57 left before halftime, YSU scored 14 straight over the next 3:43 to take a 30-13 lead at the 7:14 mark. A 3-pointer by Allen, a jumper by Eargle and 3-pointers by Allen, Brooks and  AshenWard highlighted the Penguins run.  The Raiders got back into the game using a 19-8 run to close out the half trailing YSU, 38-32.

The Penguins extended their halftime lead to seven, 41-34, when Kendrick Perry scored his first field goal of the game at the 17:39 mark.  WSU scored the next eight points over the next three to take their first lead of the game, 42-41, since leading 7-6 at the 15:42 mark of the first half.  The lead changed four more times when a 3-pointer by Allen and jumper by Perry gave the Penguins a 56-52 lead with 6:31 to go.

The Penguins return home to face Fredonia State, Tuesday, Dec. 6. Tipoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center, or 30 minutes after the Lady Penguins game concludes against Bowling Green.

Youngstown State opened their Horizon League schedule on the road and collected a 64-61 victory at Detroit.  The Penguins got a big night out of senior DuShawn Brooks who scored a career-high 24 points.  The Penguins improve to 5-1 for the first time since 2000 and are 1-0 in the Horizon League. Detroit falls to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the league.

Brooks, who made a career-best six 3-pointers, nailed his final two in the final 1:55 to erase a four-point defict, 59-55, and to give the Penguins a 61-59 lead with 1:05 to go.

Sophomore Kendrick Perry, who had 13 points, extended the Guins lead to 62-59 after making one-of-two free throws with 17 seconds left.  Perry (above) would later ice the game with .5 seconds remaining hitting two clutch free throws.  Detroit’s Chase Simon made a layup with 1.1 seconds left to bring the Titans within one, 62-61,  before Perry was fouled at half court.

Detroit scored the first four points of the second half to take a 38-35 lead, but a 3-pointer by senior Ashen Ward capped an 8-2 run to give Youngstown State a 43-40 lead at the 14:21 mark.  The Penguins extended their lead to five twice, 47-42, and 49-44, with 11:10 to go.

The Titans used an 11-1 run to take a point lead, 55-50, at the 5:40 mark. Brooks hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to bring the Guins within two, 55-53, with 5:22 left.  After a free throw by Simon, Brooks (below) hit a jumper at the 3:10 mark to get within one, 56-55.

Detroit’s Donovan Foster put the Titans up four, 59-55, at the 2:11 mark before Brooks’ 3-pointer to bring the Guins with one, 59-58, with 1:55 to go.

In the first half, the Guins jumped out to a 12-4 lead just four minutes into the game, sparked by a high-light reel alley-oop dunk from Ward to Perry.  Detroit outscored YSU 12-2 over the next four minutes to take its first lead of the game, 16-14, on a three-point play by McCallum at the 11:42 mark.

Blake Allen finally got in the scoring column nailing a jumper and a 3-pointer to give the Guins a 19-18 lead.  Later, Brooks hit two more 3-pointers to push the Guins advantage to six, 27-21, at the 6:15 mark.

The Guins lead by as many as seven points, 35-28, after two layups by freshman Shawn Amiker. However, Detroit scored the final six points of the half, including four in the final three seconds. McCallum hit two free throws and Chase Simon stole the in-bound pass and fed McCallum for a layup to cut the Guins lead to 35-34 at the intermission.

The Penguins visit Wright State, Saturday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m. at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.

The Youngstown Phantoms came into Thursday’s game against Sioux Falls winners of their last four games.  For about 80% of this game, a 2-1 shootout loss, the Phantoms looked like the dominant team. A late goal and getting beat in a shootout, the Phantoms fell to 12-5-1.  Sioux Falls pulled through in a nailbiter to end the Phantoms recent dominance and nab a big road win.

The Phantoms got their only goal in the first period despite being outshot 10-7. Stephen Collins found the back of the net with 2:26 to go in the first third of the game.  The goal by Collins was his first of the season.  Richard Zehnal and Pat Conte picked up assists on the goal.

In the second, both teams had powerplay chances.  In Fact, Sioux Falls had three of them compared to the Phantoms one.  Give credit to the defense of the Phantoms and Matt O’Connor to keep the Stampede off of the scoreboard through two periods. After 40 minutes of play, the Phantoms clung to a 1-0 lead.  The Stampede had 23 shots compared to Youngstown’s 19.

In the third period, the Phantoms played more physical but Sioux Falls was able to tie the game with 4:22 remaining in regulation.  Ed McGovern scooped up the puck just to the right of O’Connor’s stick side of the crease and pushed it past before O’Connor could turn to make a play on it.  The shots on goal still favored the Stampede after three at 29-22.

In the overtime, O’Connor made a couple of sensational glove saves to keep the Phantoms afloat.  Stampede goaltender Stephon Williams made some pretty saves in the extra session as well.  In the end, nobody scored and this game went to a shootout.

In the shootout,  Austin Cangelosi scored as Coach Noreen’s first shooter, but that was it.  For Sioux Falls, Justin Selman and Kyle Rankin scored.  Mike Ambrosia tried to tie it, but his shot sailed the crossbar and hit the glass securing the win for the Stampede.

“The negative was that we set a bar as to what our potential was,”, said Coach Anthony Noreen afterwards.  “We played ok and I even thought we played good at times, but we definitely did not to play to our potential.  The positive is that we got a point out of it and head out to our rival, Muskegon, to compete for four huge points.”

The Phantoms hit the road for games at Muskegon on Friday and Saturday.

Donald Jones missed four weeks earlier this season with an ankle injury.  being a proud player and hard worker, he beat the projected deadline to return a couple of weeks ago.  However, Jones has again hurt the same ankle and this time there is damage to new ligaments.

“I was placed on injured reserve last week and that means I am done for the year”, said Jones Thursday night.  “It was the same ankle and i injured everything that was healing plus one more ligament.  It would be another three to four games before I could realistically get back, so I am done for the season.”

The Buffalo Bills lost, 28-24, to the Jets last weekend.  The loss drops the Bills to 5-6 for the season and put a serious gash in their playoff chances.  Being 1-5 on the road is something this young team can concentrate on getting better at next season.

“The mindset of the team right now is just focusing on trying to get a win.  Everybody is banged up.  We signed talented guys to replace injured players, but when you bring in guys from somewhere else, it effects the whole system, it’s real hard to get used to a new system for them.”

Jones said that he still goes to practice and is doing all he can to get better, but that he will not approach it [injury] the way he did the first time.

“I want to get back to 100%”, said Jones.  “Last time, I came back not at 100%, so right now, I am focused on letting the ankle heal the right way.”

The Bills face the Titans this Sunday at 1.  The good news is that it is a home game, and the Bills do well at home [5-1].  The bad news that if the Bills lose, the playoffs will be almost impossible to get to.  Fear not Bills fans, when healthy, this team can play with anyone.  Once Chan Gailey piles up some depth and these young Bills age a year, they could mover forward, real fast.

” I do not travel with the team to road games, but I went to the Jets game because I went home for Thanksgiving.”

Coming off of a Thanksgiving weekend road trip, Youngstown State returned to the Beeghly Center and showed no sign of any road fatigue.  The Penguins seized an early lead and coasted to a 80-55 victory over MAC-opponent, Western Michigan to go to 4-3 on the season.  Last season, the Penguins put up a total of six wins.  To have four in seven games says a lot about just how far the program has moved forward in such a short time.

The win was the first for YSU at home this season.  It was also the first time a Lady Penguins team has won by more than 20 points since 2006, when they defeated Buffalo by 34.

Youngstown State never trailed in the game.  In the first half, they had a lead as big as 13 points with 7:52 until the break.  The most impressive part about the first half was that the Penguins scored 30 points and Brandi Brown only had two of them.  The knock against the Penguins going into this season (picked to finish 10th out of 10 teams), was that there was no balance around Brown.  Those same voters then turned around and elected Brown as the Horizon League Preseason Player of The Year.  The fact that the Lady Penguins could account for 28 points in a half without Brown disqualifies all of the preseason inaccuracies and negative speculation of the league voters.

In the first half, Monica Touvelle and Liz Hornberger had six points each. Tieara Jones and Devan Matkin had four each, and Macey Nortey and Heidi Schlegel had three each – pretty balanced scoring.  Brown did make her presence known with eight rebounds.

Brown (above), who played most of the game with her left nostril stuffed full of gauze, was used sparingly in the second half.  She scored six points in the first five minutes of the second half and finished the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds in just 30 minutes.  It didn’t seem like a double-double, but the numbers don’t lie.

“Last year, it was pretty much as Brandi goes, this team goes”, remarked Coach Bob Boldon.  “We play better when we play more balanced.  With all of the attention on Brandi, it is nice to see the other players step up.  We have played good offensive games, and we have played good defensive games.  This was the first time this year we had both.”

With 9:10 left in the game, Youngstown State increased their lead to 61-34 on a couple of threes by Schlegel.  The Penguins finished with 80 balanced points.

“I was really happy that we played so well as a team”, said Schlegel.  “We had four players in double figures and we are playing as a team rather than individuals.  Off the floor, we are really gelling as a team and that is helping us on the court.”

The Penguins got 15 points out of Schlegel.  It is nice to see her playing instead of sitting, she adds another dimension and plays bigger than her size.  Nortey had a very solid night finishing the game with 11 points and 6 assists, was 7-9 from the free throw line, 2-3 from the floor, had three steals, and even gathered a rebound.

Brown and Nortey, native Californians, recently traveled home to play a couple of games over the holiday weekend.  Sports information director for basketball, John Vogel, talked about the trip and spending time with both families.

“It was a very rewarding Thanksgiving weekend on the road”, commented Vogel.  We spent tome with both Macey and Brandi’s families and some of the other parents made the trip.  It was nice to see that kind of support that far away from home and the players enjoyed it as much as the parents who made the trip.”

The Penguins welcome Bowling Green as part of a doubleheader on December 6 at Beeghly Center.  Tipoff for that game is at 5:15.