Posts Tagged ‘Blake Allen’

Damian Eargle had 20 points and ten rebounds to lead Youngstown State past Cleveland State, 73-67, on the road.  The Vikings were ranked in the AP Men’s Top-25 last week, so the magnitude of the win for YSU is huge, especially on the road. With the win, the Penguins improved to 7-6 and more importantly, 2-1 in Horizon League play while handing Cleveland State their first Horizon loss.  Cleveland native Ashen Ward scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half.

Senior DuShawn Brooks also reached double figures with 17 points, including 11 in the first half, and as a team, the Guins shot 58.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

After a 3-pointer by CSU’s Jeremy Montgomery tied the game at 40-40 at the 13:46 mark, the Penguins, who shot 65 percent (13-for-20) in the second half, used a 15-6 run over the next five minutes to take a 55-46 lead with 8:34 to go and never trailed again.

Ward started a run with a 3-pointer and after a 3-pointer by Blake Allen and jumper by Josh Chojnacki the Guins ahead by eight, 52-44, at 10:47. Allen also made a layup at the 8:34 mark put YSU up by nine.

The Vikings cut the deficit down to one on two occasions – 57-56 at the 5:18 mark and 59-58 with 4:31 to go.

Ward hit his second 3-pointer of the half and then drove the lane for a layup to extend the Guins’ edge to seven, 66-59, with 1:52 remaining.  Ward also made four straight free throws with under a minute to left, including the final two charity tosses with five seconds left to give the Penguins a 73-64 lead.

The Penguins return home to face Loyola, Thursday, Jan. 5, at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

Youngstown State University finally got to come home and play a game Thursday night.  The suitcase-carrying YSU team last played home games on November 18 and December 6.  Robert Morris had not lost a game to Youngstown State since 2001 coming in.  The Penguins were unable to reverse their recent misfortune against the Colonials and fell 59-56 to fall to 6-6 on the season.

With seven seconds separating the game clock and the shot clock and the game tied at 56, Youngstown State turned the ball over giving Robert Morris possession with 8.2 seconds remaining.  Coron Williams fired a three right at the buzzer to seemingly give the Colonials the 59-56 win.  Coach Jerry Slocum argued that time had elapsed before the shot was taken, and after the refs reviewed the video, the shot was ruled as good.

In the first half, the Penguins looked to be in control.  In fact, at times they looked like they would pull away.  The Colonials trailed the Penguins by seven at the 13:43 mark of the first half, but to their credit, kept clawing back to keep YSU within reach.  The Penguins held a 32-31 lead at the half behind solid shooting from guards Kendrick Perry (above) and Blake Allen.  Perry scored ten first half points with a couple of threes and 4-5 shooting.  The consistent Allen poured in nine, hitting three triples.

In the second half, Perry continued to show his arsenal hitting a dunk and a three to put YSU ahead 43-39 with 11:43 left in the game.  A half-court pass caught by a cutting Mike McFadden, who easily laid the ball in, tied the game.  DuShawn Brooks then hit a couple of threes to put YSU ahead 49-45 with just under ten minutes remaining.

The second half of the game seemed much more physical than most for both teams.  It seemed every trip in either direction left a member of either team lying under the hoop and grabbing a body part while wincing in pain.

“I am very disappointed with the outcome”, said Coach Slocum.  “I am very respectful of our kids to come back and play as hard as they did against a good team like they did tonight.”

With 6:03 left in the game, and the Penguins ahead 49-48, Brooks hit a nice runner in the paint to stretch the margin to three.  After a stop, Fletcher Larson hit a pair of free throws to widen the lead to 53-48.  Brooks then was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound and he promptly hit a pair of free throws to make it 55-48 with 3:47 left in the game.  The Colonials fought back to make it a two-point game, 55-53, with 3:14 left in regulation.  That score would not change over a two minute span as YSU had a couple of empty possessions.  Anthony Myers hit a three with about 50 seconds left to tie the game at 56.

Perry finished the game with 18 points, Brooks knocked in 16 more and Allen finished with 12.  The Colonials are another quality opponent that the Penguins had on the ropes but could not put away.  Coach Slocum and this dedicated team will continue to work hard and get better for league play.

Velton Jones finished with 15 to lead the Colonials who improved to 10-3 on the year.

Junior Blake Allen scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore Kendrick Perry added 19 but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team could not overcome a slow start and dropped an 86-77 loss to Toledo on Saturday evening at Savage Arena. YSU shot just 26.5 percent in the first half, fall to 6-4 overall while Toledo improves to 7-3.

Junior Damian Eargle just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. He also had five blocks and sophomore Nate Perry scored a career-high 10 points off the bench.

YSU, which shot 56.3 percent and outscored Toledo, 49-47, in the second half, trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, 11 at halftime and 13 with 18 minutes left in the game, but used an 18-6 run over a four-minute span to get within one, 49-48, with 13:50 left.  Two layups by Allen and one by freshman Shawn Amiker brought the Guins within seven, 43-36, with 16:14 to go.

The Rockets built the lead back to nine, 49-40, but a jumper by Eargle, an old-fashioned three-point play by Perry and a 3-pointer by Perry brought the Penguins within one.  YSU made 12 of their first 17 shots in the second half, were within one on two more occasions, 54-53, with 11:16 left and 56-55 at the 10:26 mark.  Toledo, though, capitalized on a technical foul called on YSU and scored 12 straight points to boost its lead back to 13, 68-55, with 7:46 remaining.  Perry’s second 3-pointer with 3:47 to go cut the deficit to nine, 76-67, but the Penguins would not get any closer.

Allen, who scored 16 of his points in the first half, scored YSU’s first eight points of the game that gave the Guins an 8-5 lead with 16:28 left before halftime.  Allen connected on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including four 3-pointers, while the rest of the team made just 4-of-26 (15.3 percent) field-goal attempts.

The Penguins visit Akron, Monday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Youngstown State tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a game for the third time this season, but dropped an 80-72 decision to Buffalo on Saturday evening at Alumni Arena.  Youngstown State falls to 6-3 while Buffalo improves to 6-2.

The Penguins, who made 14 3-pointers, were led by sophomore Kendrick Perry‘s double-double of 18 points and 10 assists and 17 points from both senior Ashen Ward and junior Blake Allen (above).   Perry connected on 7-of-18 shooting from the floor, including three 3-pointers. Allen made five 3-pointers, Ward made three, Nate Perry had two and DuShawn Brooks added one each.

Although YSU shot 40 percent from behind the arc (14-for-35), they had no answer for the inside presence of Buffalo’s Javon McCrea and Mitchell Watt, who scored 29 and 20 points, respectively.  McCrea, who connected on 14-of-17 from the field, also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Penguins trailed by just one, 62-61, after a layup by Perry at the 8:38 mark and by six, 67-61, after a 3-pointer by Buffalo’s Tony Watson and two free throws from Watt with 7:43 left.

An offensive rebound and layup by McCrea extended the Bulls’ lead to eight, 69-61, with 5:10 remaining.  Ward (above) hit three late 3-pointers to get YSU, who trailed by as many as 10, 74-64, within six, 78-72, with 12 seconds left but Buffalo made two free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Penguins used a 13-5 run to build a 26-18 lead midway through the first half after the Bulls knotted the game, 13-13. A 3-pointer from Allen and two from sophomore Nate Perry spark the Guins first-half spurt.  Buffalo, though, outscored the Penguins 12-4 to take a 30-29 lead at the 6:17 mark after a dunk by McCrea.

Kendrick Perry, who scored 15 points in the first half, and Allen put the Guins back up by four, 36-32, after a pair of treys with 4:17 left.  After Buffalo scored six straight points to take a 38-36 lead,  Perry drained a 3-pointer with three seconds to give YSU a 39-38 halftime lead.

The Penguins take a break for finals before visiting Toledo, Saturday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m. in Toledo, Ohio.

Youngstown State University handed Fredonia State a 69-35 defeat at home Tuesday night.  This game was not much of a contest, but Coach Jerry Slocum found solace in getting his bench a good chunk of playing time in a game situation.  The Penguins took a 31-12 lead into half and never looked back.

“We have been in so many close games lately that it makes it hard to develop guys who don’t get a lot of playing time”, noted Slocum.  “I was really happy with Fletcher Larson‘s play in the post and DJ [Cole] did a good job at the point for us.”

With the victory, YSU improves to 6-2 while the Blue Devils drop to 6-2. The 35 points allowed on Tuesday by the Penguins were the fewest in a contest since Hiram had just 35 on Dec. 22, 1970.

Leading the way offensively was Blake Allen who scored 14 points, DuShawn Brooks (above) finished with 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half and Kendrick Perry had 12. For FSU, Julius Bryant had a team-high 13 points and six rebounds.

The Penguins used the night to get some reserves involved. For the game, 12 players saw at least eight minutes of action while none played more than 25.  Nine players saw double figures in minutes on the evening for YSU.

On the defensive end, YSU held the Blue Devils to just 31.9 percent shooting from the field (15-of-47). The Penguins shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) and were 9-of-24 from behind the 3-point arc. The team’s combined to attempt just 14 free throws.

YSU never trailed after scoring the first five points of the game. Fredonia cut the deficit to 5-2 then the Penguins went on a 10-0 run and never looked back. Capping the run were the first collegiate points for redshirt freshman Fletcher Larson (above). Larson’s tip in of a miss by Shawn Amiker gave the Guins a 15-2 lead at the 12:48 mark of the first half.

Slocum talked about Brooks elevating his game over the pat couple of weeks.

“We sat him down a couple of weeks ago and told him he was only going to take what he puts in.  He was probably the best player on the floor these last three games and he has played really well for us.

Blake Allen talked about the team effort.  “Coach wanted us to hold them under 40 points.  We also wanted to have more assists than turnovers.  There is a lot of room for improvement, but we were overall pretty happy with the effort.”

The Penguins return to action on Saturday when they play at Buffalo. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be carried live on 570 WKBN.

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.

Senior DuShawn Brooks hit the game-deciding 3-pointer and blocked two Red Flash shots, including an attempt at the buzzer, as the Youngstown State men’s basketball team squeaked past Saint Francis (Pa.), 60-59, on Saturday afternoon at the DeGol Center.  The Penguins improve to 4-1 for the second straight season while the Red Flash fall to 0-5 overall.

Sophomore Kendrick Perry was the lone Penguin scoring in double figures with 12 points while Brooks, junior Blake Allen, senior  Ashen Ward and freshman Cale Zuiker each had nine points.

Brooks nailed his first 3-pointer of the season with 2:15 left in the game to give Youngstown State a four-point edge, 60-56. However, Saint Francis’ Stephon Whyatt answered with a 3-pointer of his own to cut the deficit to one, 60-59, with 1:59 to go.

Tied 33-33 at the half, the Guins used a 12-2 run to start the second half to take a 45-35 lead with 17:13 left in the game. Ward scored five of his nine points during the run and Damian Eargle‘s layup put the Guins up by 10.

The Red Flash rallied to cut the Penguins lead down to one, 53-52, on a Scott Eatherton layup with 4:22 to go.

Allen hit a jumper at the 3:16 mark to give the Penguins a 57-54 edge and SFU’s John Taylor hit a jumper to slice the lead back down to one, 57-56, before Brooks’ game-deciding 3-pointer.

YSU trailed by as many as 11 points, 17-6, in the first half, but quickly found their rhythm offensively.  Allen hit a 3-pointer and jumpers by Kendrick Perry, Shawn Amiker and another by Perry brought the within three, 19-16, at the 10:10 mark.

The Guins tied the game at 25-25 on a 3-pointer by Zuiker with 4:42 to go and two more 3-pointers by Zuiker gave the Guins a 33-30 lead before SFU’s Scott Eatherton made a free throw to knot the game at 33-33 at the half.

Youngstown State shot 45.8 percent in the first half, including 40 percent from 3-point range.  The Penguins open Horizon League play against Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. at Calihan Hall.

For the second time this season, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team tied the school single-game record with 14 3-pointers made but could not overcome a slow start and a hot-shooting Penn State team in an 82-71 loss to the Nittany Lions on Wednesday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center.  The Guins fall to 3-1 while Penn State improves to 5-1 overall.

The Guins connected on 14-of-27 from 3-point range, including going 10-of-15 from behind the arc in the second half.  Junior guard Blake Allen led the Guins with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and made a career-best seven 3-pointers. Sophomore Kendrick Perry scored 23 points, including 18 points in the second half, and made five 3-pointers. The last time two players scored at least 20 points in the same game was when Vytas Sulskis and Damian Eargle scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, against Malone on Dec. 13, 2010.

Youngstown State, who shot just 31.3 percent in the first half, trailed by 18, 44-26, at the half, but came out firing making six of their first nine shots of the half to cut the deficit down to 12, 53-41, after Allen drilled a 3-pointer with 14:35 to go.  Three-pointers by Allen, who scored 17 in the second half, and two free throws by Perry brought the Guins within nine, 58-49, with 11:31 to go.

Penn State quickly boosted its lead back to 14 after a 3-pointer by Jermaine Marshall and a tip-in by Ross Travis at the 9:36 mark.  Sophomore Nate Perry converted a four-point play – nailing a 3-pointer and subsequent free throw – to bring the Guins within ten, 68-58.  The Penguins would get within nine points two more times on 3-pointers by Allen with 50 seconds left and 18 seconds to go.

Youngstown State will visit Saint Francis (Pa.), Saturday, Nov. 26, at 2 p.m. in Loretto, Pa.

Sophomore Kendrick Perry scored a career-high 28 points and led three other Penguins scoring in double figures to lead the Youngstown State men’s basketball team to a 76-69 victory over Samford (0-1) at the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday evening.

Junior Damian Eargle scored 17 points with eight rebounds and six blocks while junior Blake Allen had 12 points and senior Ashen Ward has 11 points and eight rebounds.

With the victory, the Penguins (1-0) won a road season opener for the first time since 2000.  The Guins  also turned in a strong second-half defensive effort limiting the Bulldogs to just 37.5 percent shooting from the floor, forcing eight turnovers and grabbing 14 defensive rebounds along with five blocks by Eargle.

For the game, the Guins forced 18 turnovers that lead to 22 points.  The Guins and Bulldogs played through 12 lead changes and seven ties until the Guins started to break away.

Tied at 49 with 8:35 left in the game, layups by Ward and sophomore Josh Chojnacki and another layup by Ward gave the Guins a 55-49 lead with 6:08 to go in the game.

The Guins built its largest lead at 12, 64-52, after a three-point play by Perry, but Samford did not go away.  The Bulldogs chipped the Guins lead down to five, 71-66, after a Raijon Kelly 3-pointer with 32 seconds left.  Two free throws by Allen and a steal and dunk by Perry pushed the lead back to nine, 75-66, with 16 seconds left to seal the game.

For the game, YSU shot 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. The Guins also outscored the Bulldogs 26-16 in the paint.