Posts Tagged ‘Ashen Ward’

Youngstown State traveled West on I-76 looking for perhaps their biggest answer as to how good they could be against a quality team like Akron.  The Penguins fought really hard and looked good.  Brett McClanahan hit a 3-pointer as he was falling backwards at the end of regulation to force overtime.  McClanahan’s three came after two missed three attempts as YSU held a three point lead with just seconds left.  In overtime, the Zips got the bounces and the calls enabling them to walk away with a hard-fought 91-84 win over the much-improved Penguins team.

Vytas Sulskis poured in 20 points but missed most of the end of regulation and some of the overtime with a banged-up knee.  “I will be okay'” said Sulskis after the game, “I hyperextended it [knee] when I fell, but I am fine.”  Devonte Maymon and Ashen Ward each had 14 points, and Kendrick Perry chipped in eleven for Youngstown State.

“This hurts”, said Maymon.  “That is some really bad luck we had out there tonigfht for them to get off three three-point shots in the last ten seconds.  One rebound away.”  Maymon and Ward drilled key buckets to put YSU ahead in regulation.

I can tell the YSU Basketball Universe that this isn’t last years team.  This is a scrappy bunch who move the ball and function as a unit. They could win 20 games this season, easily.  They are that good and are still getting better.

Dan Boudler also had a career-best night with nine points and five rebounds and Sheldon Brogden added a career-high nine for the Guins.

Maymon’s three put the Penguins ahead 77-74 with 27 seconds left.  Needing a three to tie, the Zips started firing.  First Daryl Roberts missed, offensive rebound by Zeke Marshall who kicked it back outside the arc to Steve McNees who also fired a three and missed. Marshall snagged another offensive board and found McClanahan just outside the right part of the circle in front of the Akron bench. McClanahan barely got the shot off on time and the backboard turned red and time just froze.  When the sphere hit the twine, the Zips faithful at James A. Rhodes Arena blew the roof off.

During the overtime, Akron scored the first five points to go ahead 87-82 and never looked back.

The Penguins (2-1) return home on Wednesday and will play somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:30.  The girls welcome Bucknell before the Men’s game at Beeghly Center.

Youngstown State University (1-0) showed flashes of just how good they could be.  Buffalo (1-0) was coming off of an 18 win season and have been a force in the MAC over the past couple of seasons.  This game was played with a lot of new bodies on both rosters and seemingly the team that committed the most mistakes would probably lose.  Youngstown State did a great job down the stretch converting free throws and maximizing opportunities on their way to 2-0 for the first time since 2004, posting a 64-53 win.

The first half was a strong one for Youngstown State.  Buffalo raced out to an early 10-2 lead, but YSU scored the next 13 points unanswered showing an array of weaponry that Coach Slocum has envisioned in his “potential meter“.  Vytas Sulskis hit a three forcing Buffalo to use a timeout and capping the 13-0 Penguins run.

YSU had a 12 point lead with 4:30 left in the first half before Buffalo cut into the Penguins lead and only trailed by three points at the intermission.  Devonte Maymon had ten first half points to lead Youngstown State.  Sulskis chipped in with eight, and newcomer Tre Brewer added six.  Buffalo was paced by Jawaan Alston and his seven points and four rebounds.  At the half, the Penguins looked impressive and held a 32-29 lead.

YSU maintained a three point lead throughout the first part of the second half.  With 11:57 left in the contest, the Penguins were ahead by the count of 42-39.  Buffalo was really struggling from the free throw line connecting on only nine of 23 to this point in the game. Youngstown State’s kryptonite was the 14 turnovers committed.

With 7:31 left in the game, Youngstown State had a 46-43 lead.  Neither team could capitalize on the other’s struggles.  Javon McCrea hit a lay-up to cut the lead to one and Buffalo had a chance to take the lead but turned the ball over.  Ashen Ward capitalized on the Penguins next possession by hitting a bucket while being fouled and converting the free throw to give YSU a 49-45 lead with just over six minutes to play.

One thing the Penguins did extremely well in this game was rebound.  Dan Boudler grabbed one on offense with 4:41 left in the game and tipped it back in.  On the Bulls next possession, Kendrick Perry created a steal and drove the length of the court to give YSU their biggest lead of the second half at 53-45.  Alston kept his Bulls in it with a basket to cut the lead to 53-49 with 3:19 remaining.  Ward hit a three with 2:00 left in the game to increase the Penguin lead to 58-49.

YSU was led by Maymon who knocked in 13 points.  Eargle and Brewer gathered 24 rebounds for YSU.  Buffalo was paced by Alston and Barnett who poured in eleven points each in falling to 1-1 on the young season.

A festive Jerry Slocum addressed the media after the game.  “Anytime you can win a game when you shoot under 40%, you did a good job battling. This is as good of a team win as we have had in a very long time around here.  Damian [Eargle] and Trey [Brewer] really stepped up getting some big rebounds for us down the stretch, that is what wins games.”

Junior Ashen Ward, who had a career-high 13 points, echoed the sentiments of the coach.  “Winning is fun, and we are having fun because we are winning.  Everything is easier when you are winning, practices are fun.  Guys are buying in and things are working well so far this year.”

The Youngstown State University has undergone a major transformation.  Between graduation and the departing transfers, there were only a few familiar faces with any experience.  One face that hasn’t changed is that of Jerry Slocum.  Slocum pretty much had to rebuild the team from the ground up.  Vytas Sulskis, Ashen Ward, and Dan Boudler were really the only guys who returned with game experience from last season.

YSU parlayed some new chemistry with some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to get to 1-0 and defeating Samford at The Beeghly Center by the score of 64-61.

Samford University stopped in for a visit Friday night in the opener for both teams.  The pace was flat for both teams in the early going and by halftime, the score would be tied five times and there was one lead change.  Basically, Youngstown State had the lead for the first half of the first half.  Samford took the reigns and held on through halftime. Vytas Sulskis looked good for the Penguins in the first half. Nearly all other Penguins looked inconsistent and sluggish.

As a team, the Penguins were really struggling, throwing up 17 three point shots in the first half and only connecting on two.

At the 15:20 mark of the second half, YSU held a 34-31 lead.  Sulskis and Devonte Mayman had nine points apiece for the Penguins to this point.  Kendrick Perry hit a three to give the Penguins the lead at 37-34.  On their next possession, DuShawn Brooks buried a three to increase the lead to 40-34 with 12:15 remaining.

Jeffrey Merritt did his best to keep Samford in the game.  Merritt gathered an offensive rebound and hit a shot while being fouled to cut the lead to three.  Maymon hit a drive falling while being fouled and somehow connected to put the Penguins ahead, 51-42 with 6:06 left in the game.

Samford’s Josh Davis buried a three-pointer with 3:34 left in the game cutting YSU’s lead to just three points at 56-53. Next trip down the floor, Merritt drove the middle, drew a foul, and got his shot to fall.  From there, Brooks took over for YSU, first tipping in a missed shot and then nailing a three with 1:47 left in the game to put the Penguins ahead 61-57.

Merritt buried a three with 11.7 seconds left in the game cutting the YSU lead to just one point at 61-60.  Merritt was high-scorer for the Bulldogs with 19 points, and he also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Sulskis was intentionally fouled with 9.8 seconds left and hit both free throws to increase the YSU lead to 63-60.

DuShawn Brooks was impressive in his Penguins debut, scoring 20 points and grabbing six boards.  Devonte Maymon was also tough knocking down 15.  Sulskis finished the game with 13 points and ten boards for his third career double-double.

After the game, a cheery Coach Jerry Slocum addressed what effected his team early.  “I don’t know if it was so much being sluggish as it was emotional.  We were really jacked-up tonight and once things calmed down we were better at knocking down our shots.”

Sulskis shared the sentiment of Slocum.  “Last season we would have hung our heads and would not have responded.  This year is much different we are more like a family and stayed together, pulled through when it counted most.”

YSU gets back into action on Tuesday with another home game, welcoming in Buffalo.  Tipoff is 7:05.

The YSU Men’s Basketball Team is doing it’s best to bolster the confidence of the women’s program.  Having lost five to graduation, the Penguins are now without four underclassmen who were expected to be big pieces in the 2010-11 puzzle. 

Juniors Vance Cooksey and Tom Parks and freshmen Eddie D’Haiti and Lamar McKnight have informed the program that they will not return next season.  No explanations were given as to why the foursome have walked away.

Cooksey and D’Haiti both played adequately this season.  Cooksey started 10 games, but more  importantly, would have been the sparkplug next season.  D’Haiti was more of a physical work in progress.  He played, but very sparingly, and admitted himself that he needed to get stronger to compete at this level.

Parks broke his ankle in December in a snow-related accident and missed all but 11 games.  McKnight redshirted and did not play at all.

This leaves six players, ala YSU Women circa 2010, and that experiment did not yield any wins.  Ashen Ward, Vytas Sulskis, and Dan Boudler are the only three carryovers with any true playing experience for Youngstown State.  Andy Timko (above) appeared in three games, and Sheldon Brogdon and Damian Eargle never saw the court this season.  Fletcher Larson and Kendrick Perry are incoming recruits who have committed.  Aaron Anderson is another potential recruit who is close to signing with the Penguins.

Coach Jerry Slocum has not talked on the matters as of yet.

*** Thanks to Letsgoguins.com for updating a mistake that I printed.  Aaron Anderson signed with North Dakota, not YSU.

The season that Youngstown State started with so much promise came to an anti-climatic conclusion as the Penguins struggled to find their stride in a 62-54 loss to Detroit.  YSU celebrated Senior Day for players and cheerleaders before the game.  The festivities were short-lived as the Penguins trailed the Titans for most of the game.

Detroit was controlling the post game early.  With 11:27 left in the first half, Vytas Sulskis hit a pair of free throws to cut the Titans lead to 11-10.  Detroit’s Donovan Foster drove and nailed a soft kiss off of the glass to vault Detroit back to a three-point lead.

With 3:32 left in the opening half and Detroit holding a 25-19 lead, Ashen Ward buried a three for the Penguins.  After a Titan bucket, DeAndre Mays drew contact on his way to the hoop.  Mays would hit the pair of charity tosses to cut the lead to 27-24.  Thomas Kennedy was tough for Detroit in the first half with nine points as the Titans held a 31-26 lead at the intermission.  Vytas Sulskis was high-point man for Youngstown State with seven.

Kelvin Bright had a thunderous right-handed slam off of a nice feed from Mays to pull Youngstown State to within four at 41-37.  Detroit would score the next five points of the game to open up a nine-point lead at 46-37 with some help from Penguin turnovers.

With 8:57 to go in the game, Detroit jumped out to a 15-point lead.  Bright drove the lane and hit the floating finger roll to cut it to 13.  Youngstown State had a couple of good defensive possessions.  In one instance, Xavier Keeling was driving and released a prayer in the paint as he was falling that happened to go in.  On the next possession, Detroit got a bad-angle shot off with two seconds on the shotclock that didn’t hit anything.  As bad luck would have it, a Titan was right there to catch and release a layup off of a rebound as the 35-second clock expired.  Coach Slocum just threw his arms in there and his body language would say ‘what do we have to do’.

More bad luck for Youngstown State as Detroit had the worst free-throw percentage in the Horizon League coming into the game but were 17-20 through the first three quarters of the game, and finished 22-32.

With 3:37 left in the contest, Detroit had a commanding 57-43 lead in which everything seemed to be going their way.  Too much Detroit on this day as YSU bowed 62-54.

DeAndre Mays paced the Penguins with 13 points in his final Beeghly Center YSU home game.  Kelvin Bright chipped in with 11.  Mays (pictured) talked about his last home game.  “I wish it didn’t go down like this, but we have to make a push to do well in the tournament.” 

Detroit was sparked by Kennedy who finished the game with 15. With 32 trips to the free throw line, it is hard to compensate when your team only has fourteen chances, and that, combined with sloppy play spelled doom for the Penguins.

Coach Jerry Slocum had mixed emotions about Tuesday’s upcoming Horizon League Tournament game with Green Bay.  “We did not play very good today.  That [Detroit] is probably the hardest card in the league for us to matchup with because they are so big, just not good size matchups at all for us.”  Pertaining to what the Penguins could take with them into the conference tournament, Slocum reminded all, “The four games before this we battled with Butler, lost to a hot Valpo team, and lost two games at the buzzard to Wright State and UC Riverside.”

Senior Rebecca Sturgiss (above) cheers her last game on Senior Day.  Senior basketball players DeAndre Mays, Sirlester Martin, Kelvin Bright, Zack Rebillot, and Dallas Blocker played in their final home contest.  The men will travel North to face Green Bay in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament on Tuesday night.  Good luck to all Seniors affiliated with a very well-run program.

Youngstown State University had a choice to make going into their contest with Valparaiso.  They could either sulk after a loss to Butler or they could respond positively for hanging with the #15 team in the country.  The Penguins chose to respond positively and played hard but lost 77-75 to Valpo.  The Crusaders have owned the Penguins and have not lost to a Youngstown team since 2000.

The loss left Coach Jerry Slocum searching for answers.  “I thought it was a great basketball game and that our kids played well.  You’re not going to have 16 turnovers and win basketball games.  The hurtful thing about it is that I thought our kids played hard this week.  They gave all they had against Butler and again tonight.  It hurts me as a coach to see that kind of effort and to come up empty.”

Early on, it was the Vytas Sulskis show.  Sulskis was 3-4 from three-point land and had 11 points in the first ten minutes.  The 6’7″ Lithuanian put YSU ahead of Valpo 19-12 with 7:33 left in the first half.  The 12 points for the Crusaders had to be disturbing as they were leading the conference in scoring with almost 73 points per game.

Brandon Wood nailed a three to give Valpo a 23-19 lead as the Penguins went cold after their blazing start.  A Sulskis jumper just inside the foul line and a DeAndre Mays bucket tied the game at 23-23 with 3:15 remaining in the half.  Cory Johnson tied things back up at 27 apiece when he hit a layup and was fouled.

At the half, Youngstown State trailed Valpo 30-28. Sulskis had 13 first-half points for the Penguins, but was hampered with three fouls which may have cut in on his minutes.  Valpo was paced by Brandon Wood’s 12 points.

With 15:35 left in the second half, the Crusaders got a basket from Cory Johnson and YSU answered when Eddie D’Haiti ran the lane and delivered a crowd-pleasing two-handed dunk. Valpo held a 42-40 lead when Ashen Ward hit a two from just inside the arc to vault YSU into a tie. The Penguins would take the lead, 44-42, at the 13:21 mark when D’Haiti first kept a possession alive with an offensive rebound and then hit a pair of free throws, the first two attempted by the Penguins in the contest.

Mays hit a baseline jumper with 9:32 left to give YSU a 53-51 lead. However, on YSU’s next possession, Mays was swatted by Matt Kenney who took the ball three-quarters of the court for a layup. At the 7:37 mark, Valpo held a one-point lead at 56-55.

Wood put Valpo up 62-57 with a three.  Valpo, to this point, was shooting a blistering 9-15 from three-point land.  Kelvin Bright tied the game with his second dunk of the game.  With 4:45 left both teams had 62 points.

Sulskis was in a different zone on this night, he topped his season-high with 24 points and tied his yearly high with nine rebounds.  Matt Kenney had a dunk with 35 seconds left in the game to give Valpo a 73-72 lead.  Kenney was then intentionally fouled and hit both charity tosses to put Valpo up 75-72.

Mays was fouled on YSU’s next trip up the court and he hit one of two to cut the Crusader margin to just two points at 75-73.  Kenney was fouled on the rebound of Mays missed free throw where he promptly connected on both attempts making it a two-possession game at 77-73.

Bright was fouled with five seconds left and hit both his his free throws to cut the lead to two points at 77-75.  After a quick foul, YSU grabbed a rebound but Sulskis had to heave a half-court prayer that didn’t get close and Valpo held on for an exciting 77-75 win.

Valparaiso (14-14, 9-7) got 22 points from Brandon Wood.  Youngstown State (8-17, 2-13) got 24 from Sulskis and DeAndre Mays had a career high with ten assists.

Valpo Coach Homer Drew was full of praise to Youngstown State after the game.  “Jerry [Slocum] has these kids playing hard.  We knew they were going to play hard against us.  I was also proud of our guys to hang in there.  What a game, we’re up, they’re up, we’re up.  Not having any turnovers in the second half and hitting 10 of 18 threes were the difference.  Credit Youngstown, they have been in alot of games and it comes down to one shot here or there either way.”

YSU next heads to Milwaukee for a Monday 7:00 game.  Catch the action on AM-570 with Robb Schmidt bringing the call.

Youngstown State University had to play with nothing left to lose.  After all, the Penguins dropped the first meeting 91-61 on January 16 and wanted to pick up some steam heading into Bracketbusters on Feb. 20.  Surely a win, or at least a good showing against #15 Butler shoud help compile confidence.

Half of the battle was won, as the Penguins made a respectable showing against the powerful Bulldogs ultimately falling 68-57.  Butler (22-4, 15-0) clinched the Horizon League Championship with the win and is very capable of advancing a few rounds in the NCAA Tournament come March. 

With 12:44 left in the first half, Butler raced out to a 16-8 lead, but Ashen Ward gathered in a long deflection and hit a cutting DeAndre Mays for a pair to cut the early Bulldog lead to six points. 

The Penguins cut the lead to one point at the 8:05 mark on a Kelvin Bright three-pointer.  Youngstown State was playing a great game defensively in the early going.  With Butler ahead 18-17, Mays nailed a three to give YSU their first lead of the game.  Vytas Sulskis hit another to put YSU up 23-18 as the large Beeghly Center crowd got loud.

The Penguins extended their lead to seven with 4:17 left in the first half when Mays hit a layup for his twelfth point of the half.  It was the first half that no one would have expected and the lead grew to eight.  Unfortunately for Youngstown State, things started unraveling and Butler used a blast of offense to take a halftime lead and had an 11-2 run to put themselves a point in front of Youngstown State at 31-30.

Butler took advantage of shoddy YSU ball control to start the second half.  Over the first seven minutes, the Penguins turned the ball over five times.  Coach Jerry Slocum commented on the poor second half start.  “We had five turnovers in our first six possessions in the second half.  This game was lost during those first seven minutes of the second half.  You can’t keep a good team like that down too long when you have that many empty possessions.  Another turning point in the game was when [Matt] Howard got his fourth foul and they want one big and four small, we did not match up well at that point.”

Butler was paced by Gordon Hayward (pictured) who finished the contest with 22 points and 17 rebounds, more than half of his team total of 31.  The 6’9″ Sophomore Guard was 8-9 from the free throw line and played a very well-rounded 36 minutes.  Zach Hahn seemed to keep the Penguins at bay down the stretch as his eight points all came at crucial times.

Butler Coach Brad Stevens was happy to escape with the win.  “This time of the year you just try to take a win, get better, and move on.  The guards and players for YSU scare every coach in this conference because when they get it going, they are really hard to stop.  They played a great game and it is a big road win for us.”

Butler heads to Cleveland State next for a Saturday matchup where they have had fits.  Youngstown State (8-16, 2-12) hosts Valparaiso Saturday night.

Youngstown State University had been struggling all season to maintain consistency. This year, the team has shown signs of being able to hang with anybody, and conversely being error-prone and careless while struggling.  The majority of Sunday afternoon’s game against Wisconsin-Green Bay was the careless version of YSU Basketball. 

Youngstown State fell to 7-12 (2-8 Horizon League) as Green Bay capitalized on poor second half Penguins free throw shooting and handled the Penguins, 69-55. 

“At one point, we missed seven or eight foul shots in a row.  We are playing as bad of basketball as we have played in the last three or four years and it is very diappointing to see us playing with such lifelessness”, was about all Coach Jerry Slocum had to say at the end of this one.

At the 7:48 mark of the first half, the Penguins were caught somewhere in between doing the little things needed to win and not doing the big things well. Green Bay had a 23-17 lead when Kelvin Bright connected from just inside the foul line with a nice fadeaway jumper to cut the lead to three.

With Green Bay over the first half limit, Ashen Ward was fouled grabbing a defensive rebound. Ward swished both ends of a one-and-one to pull the Penguins to a two-point deficit.  Troy Cotton, who had 14 points with 3:51 left in the first half, buried a three to extend the Wisconsin-Green Bay lead to 31-26.  Cotton finished the game with a career-high seven three-pointers.

At halftime, the Phoenix held a 33-30 lead.  Cotton was the overall scoring leader with 14 points.  The Penguins were staying in the game with good free throw shooting (11-14, 78.6%), a luxury they had not enjoyed often this season.

Bryquis Perine was whistled for a technical foul at the 17:39 mark as he and Dallas Blocker were doing a little extra-curricular pushing and shoving while jogging up the court together. The penalty would be insignificant as Mays missed both free throws and a walking call awarded the Phoenix possession to keep the score at 40-36.

Cotton hit another three, his fifth of the game, to stretch the Green Bay lead to 47-40 with 12:25 left in regulation. Rian Pearson hit a layup while being fouled, hit the free throw, and the Penguins suddenly trailed 50-40 in a game they had not held the lead in.

With just under four minutes remaining in the contest, Milwaukee pushed the lead to 16 points at 65-49, their largest lead of the game. Rahmon Fletcher hit a three in the corner to give the Phoenix the increased advantage. The Penguns were really struggling to find solutions to trim the margin as they had gone nearly eight full minutes without a field goal.  As the time clicked away, Green Bay (15-7, 7-3) maintained a comfortable cushion and turned back the Penguins, 69-55.

YSU welcomes non-conference opponent North Carolina Central on Wednesday night for a 7:05 tip-off at the Beeghly Center.

Eddie D’Haiti has endured plenty in the last few days.  Both of his parents were born in Haiti and he has many relatives and friends who still call the Hispanolia Island  their home.  D’Haiti has had contact with family since the January 12 earthquake which rocked the island and has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives, or 20% of it’s total population.  Relief efforts have been hampered due to aftershocks and difficulty getting to the heart of the disaster.  Meanwhile, back in Youngstown, a worried student-athlete can only pray for the safety and comfort of his own while trying to maintain some semblance of focus on his studies and playing basketball.

Paneech:  In what way are you affiliated with Haiti?

D’Haiti:  My parents are originally from Haiti.  I have a long history of family still living in Haiti as we speak.  From what I understand, everyone came through ok.  My grandmother, and all of my family and friends still there came through it.  It has been difficult to reach everyone back in Haiti because all of the power is down, so it is taking time.  I understand they are doing allright, but how allright are they?  Are they eating?  That kind of stuff.

Paneech:  Do you endorse a charity or a particular type of fund?

D’Haiti:  The easiest charity that I can ask people to get involved with is texting on their phones.  Alot of the carriers like A T & T and Sprint are offering a program where you can text donations, you don’t even have to get off of your couch.

***Ed. Note – By clicking this link, you can also donate used cell phones for recycling in which all proceeds will go to the Haitian relief effort.

Paneech:  Were you born in Haiti?

D’Haiti:  I was born in Orlando, Florida.  My parents were originally from Port-au-Prince and moved to Orlando before I was born.  I was lucky enough to go to Haiti.  Growing up as an American kid visiting Haiti, it was very cultural and fun, now it’s not the same. 

Paneech:  Talk about how you end up leaving Orlando for Youngstown.  It has to be culture shock when you look over your shoulder growing up and see Disney to looking over your shoulder now and seeing where there used to be a bunch of steel mills.

D’Haiti:  I love Orlando to death, it is just a wonderful place.  I felt it was very important to make a change in my life, I wanted to move out of state just to see more of the world.  When I came here on my visit, I really liked the campus.  The people were nice and the coaches were great guys and I wanted to be a part of it.  Youngstown, at least the campus, is a very peaceful place.  I’m really liking it and the people have been so wonderful here.

Paneech:  At the start of the season, the coaches and players of this team took exception to being picked to finish seventh in the Horizon League.  So far the team is playing like the seventh best team in the Horizon League.  What is the hurdle that the team is struggling to get over?

D’Haiti:  Once we can get over the hump, the sky is the limit for us.  I don’t want to say it’s mental or physical.  It seems like we don’t have all of the pieces to the puzzle in place yet.  Once we find those pieces, we can be rolling.  I came into this not physically ready, and that’s what I am working on getting better with right now.  I am learning so much from Dallas Blocker and Dan Boudler every day.

Paneech:  You pass well for a big guy.  Is it something you work on or is it instinct?

D’Haiti:  I believe it is a combination of both.  I like sharing the ball with my teammates, it’s no fun unless we all get some. 

Paneech:  What is the mood of this team right now?

D’Haiti:  We just want it so bad.  We’re not laid back, we definitely want to win badly.  We are just going after it and practice has been so much more intense.  Sometimes when we don’t get it and fall short, we grow as a team.  I don’t think we have the best talent in the Horizon League, but,  I also don’t think there is a team in the conference who wants to win as bad as we do.  There is alot of obvious frustration.  We are going after all of the little things and striving for perfection.

Paneech:  How much attention are you paying to the media coverage of Haiti?

D’Haiti:  I watch it every day, but I can’t watch it for too long because it makes me sick to my stomach.  Honestly, I can only stand watching it for about five minutes a day.  I just talk to my mom who has direct contact and she gives me all of the information as to what is going on. 

 

One Word Answers

Favorite Meal Of The Day:  Dinner. 

Favorite Breakfast Cereal:  Lucky Charms.

Favorite TV Show:  Family Guy.

Favorite Video Game:  I don’t play that much, I have more fun watching Ash [Ashen Ward] and Kelvin [Bright] play against each other.

Biggest Phobia:  Right now, the condition of my loved ones in Haiti.

Worst Habit:  Biting my nails.

Best Class You Have Taken At YSU:  Healthy Lifestyles.

Best Movie Ever Made:  Crash.

Who Was Your Favorite Disney Character Growing Up?  (laughs)  Mickey Mouse.

Who Was Your Favorite Orlando Magic Player?  I was kind of forced to be a Penny [Hardaway] fan.  I had the shoes, Little Penny.  Kevin Garnett is my overall favorite player of all-time.

 

Youngstown State faced off against a lesser-known yet qualitive opponent on Wednesday night at Beeghly Center. Robert Morris already had a victory against Cleveland State on the road and looked to knock off another Horizon League team in the Penguins. Free throw shooting (65.7%) and rebounding proved to be enough for Robert Morris (5-7 ) to prevail 72-67.

The Penguins and Colonials both seemed in and out of sync in the early moments of the game. Sirlester Martin hit a jumper from just inside the three-point line and a short hook off of the right line of the key to keep YSU down just one point at 5-4 with 15:46 left in the first half.

An Ashen Ward 3-point shot staked the Penguins to a 13-10 lead with 11:15 left in the half. YSU was doing a good job penetrating to this point and had the Robert Morris defense collapsing which allowed better looks from the outside.

The Colonials tied the game at 15 when Dallas Green took a lead pass in the paint and stuffed the ball with both hands. Karon Abraham added three when he was fouled and his reverse layup fell at the 8:21 marker of the first half. Vance Cooksey hit Eddie D’Haiti with a beautiful no-look pass to give the Penguins a 21-20 lead.

Abraham gave Robert Morris its biggest lead of the game at 28-23 with a 15-foot jumper that found nothing but the twine. Coach Slocum called for a timeout to regroup, but a couple of turnovers and cheap fouls prevented a momentum shift as the Colonials went on a 15-2 run to take a 35-23 lead with under two minutes remaining in the first half of play. YSU, however, managed to shave the 12 point lead to nine before the intermission and only trailed 38-29.

Karon Abraham was top banana on both teams in scoring with 14 first-half points for the Colonials. D’Haiti, Ward, and Martin had six apiece for YSU.

At the 16:25 mark of the second half, YSU had dug themselves into an 11-point hole that was going to be hard to crawl out of unless they started doing a better job rebounding on both ends of the court. To this point in the game, the Colonials were just a step ahead, winning the matchup battles and forcing YSU to take shots that they may not have been accustomed to.

A pair of free throws by Green reestablished the double-digit lead that the Penguins seemed unable to cut into. With 11:20 left in the game, the Colonials pushed their lead to 52-39.

Riding the hot hand of Ashen Ward, the Penguins finally sliced the lead to nine with 8:41 to go. The 6’3″ Sophomore from Cleveland first connected on a three from the left arc area, and then converted a steal for a good-hustling two. A Rob Robinson slam put the Colonials back in front by 13 just :38 later at 60-47.

Kelvin Bright’s dunk ignited the crowd and reaped the benefits of a full-court press that was forcing turnovers. With 5:08 left in the game, the Penguins had cut the lead to four points at 61-57 on a DeAndre Mays three. The pressure had the Colonials coming unglued.

Vytas Sulskis buried a three to trim the lead to one. The Penguins tied the contest when Sirlester Martin hit the second of two free throws. With four minutes left it was a new game as the two squads were knotted at 61 points each. The teams exchanged points and remained tied at 65 with 2:21 left in the game. The crowd was really into the game and chanting defense with every Colonials possession.

Abraham, who led all scorers with 20, first knocked the ball away from Cooksey and then converted a layup to give the Colonials a 69-67 lead with just :33 to go in the contest for his team-high 18th point. After Robert Morris converted the first of two free throws, YSU regained possession and Sulskis heaved a three for the tie but was an eighth of an inch short. With nine seconds left, YSU had to foul and Abraham missed the first of two. After he missed the second, YSU could not garner the rebound.

Robert Morris had 16 offensive rebounds to Youngstown State’s 8.  A dejected Jerry Slocum talked about a flat start and how turning the ball over hurt down the stretch.  “We came out and stood around in the first half.  I am very, very, disappointed.  We come back and take the lead by four and miss two wide open shots and turn the ball over twice.  If you want to have a season like we are aspiring to have, you have to make plays when the game is on the line.  No one stepped up and made those plays.  We gift wrapped it for them.”

YSU (5-7) returns to action Saturday when they face Cleveland State at the Beeghly Center.