Posts Tagged ‘Damian Eargle’

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.

For the first time in over ten years, the Youngstown State University men’s basketball program is undefeated after their first three games of 2011.  Kendrick Perry, Ashen Ward, and Damian Eargle helped the Penguins overcome a sluggish first half to defeat UC-Riverside, 53-49, in overtime on Friday night.  The overtime win was YSU’s first since 2001.  They had been 0-11 in overtime games before this victory.

“This was not our best shooting night, but it was a very strong defensive effort”, said Coach Jerry Slocum after the win.  “That is as good as a defensive team that we faced tonight as any team in our conference.  It is nice to be 3-0 and we go on the road for six of our next eight games.  This is a fun group, I am very proud of them.”

In the first half, the Penguins could not get much to fall.  As a team, YSU shot only 25% from the floor, 25% from 3-point land, and 43% from the free throw line.  Fortunately for the Penguins, UC-Riverside struggled just as badly in the first half.  When the buzzard sounded to end the half, YSU held a 21-19 lead.  Ward knocked down eight points and DuShawn Brooks (below) had seven boards for the home team at the break.  The Highlanders did not score the last 2:59 of the opening half, and  Phil Martin paced UC-Riverside with seven points at the break.

Brooks, a senior, was a hero despite a 1-15 shooting performance.  He blocked a shot forcing a change of possession, he had 14 rebounds, he hustled until the whistle was blown, and most importantly, never got rattled by his off-night on offense.

“I am as proud of DuShawn tonight as I have ever been.  He had a big block for us, and even though he was not hitting his shots, he kept his head in the game and stepped up to battle through it”, said Slocum of Brooks’ efforts.

“It was a win.  It could be ugly, pretty, it doesn’t matter, it’s a win”, claimed Brooks.  “I am motivated to win and I am a senior now, so I am not worried if my shots are not falling, eventually they will.”

In the second half, the Penguins went on an 8-0 run.  Trailing 27-24, YSU reeled off the eight uncontested points to take a 32-24 lead with 16:41 left in the game.  Credit the scoring chances to a vicious full-court press that Coach Jerry Slocum unveiled.  Ward started to get going and the Penguins were clicking, for awhile.

With 6:14 left in the game, Martin grabbed a rebound of a partially blocked shot and slammed it back through making it 37-37.  Following a Perry free throw, Eargle blocked a shot, but the Penguins could not convert.  The refs seemed to have more control over the game than either team as they made some pretty iffy calls – both ways.

With the score tied at 40 and 2:01 left in the game, Eargle hit a big pair of free throws to put YSU ahead by two.  Martin hit a prayer jumper with the shot clock on one second to tie the game at 42 apiece.  UC-Riverside brought the ball up and tried to get the ball down low, but Eargle blocked the attempted shot and the Penguins regained possession on a shot clock violation with six seconds left.  The Penguins got the ball back in a tie game with six seconds left.  Brooks inbounded to Perry who could not get through traffic or get a quality shot off forcing overtime.

In the extra session with the teams tied at 46, Martin got a shot off in a crowded lane and was fouled with 1:52 left in the game.  He converted the ‘and-one’ to give Riverside a three-point lead.  With 41.8 seconds left and the ‘Guins down three, Eargle was fouled on a rebound.  The foul was on Kevin Bradshaw, his fifth.  Eargle was sent to the line where he hit a pair of charity tosses to cut the deficit to one.  Perry penetrated and was fouled to go to the line, where he hit a pair to give YSU a one-point lead at 50-49 with 20 seconds left in the game.  Riverside drove, missed a shot, Brooks grabbed a rebound, and was fouled with 1.4 seconds left.  To add to the ending, the UC-Riverside bench got whistled for a technical foul.  After Brooks missed the first free throw, Jim Woolridge, the UC coach got tossed.  His exit looked like something out of a WWE script.  Pouty face, yelling at the refs, playing the crowd…

Nonetheless, YSU hit some free throws off of all of the free advertising sponsored by Woolridge to cement the victory.

Ward was the top scorer for the Penguins, finishing with 15 points.  Eargle blocked 8 shots and chipped in with 11 points.  Martin had 16 for the Highlanders taking their top-scoring honors.

YSU is just five games away from school victory #1,000.

History lesson. The great Industrial Revolution of America was built on the theory that interchangeable parts could be used to mass assemble.  Tuesday night at Beeghly Center, Jerry Slocum did exactly that, showed a wide array of talent, interchangeable parts.  The Penguins looked pretty good in defeating Notre Dame of Ohio 80-62 in the 2011 home opener.  A long-standing school record of 14 three pointers in a game was tied as the Penguins had the long shots falling to the clip of 66.7% in the first half.

“It was a tale of two halves”, remarked Slocum.  “In the first half, everything went in, and in the second half, nothing would go in.  The first half was a clinic of sharing the ball though.”

The Penguins did a tremendous job of scoring off of turnovers in the first half.  The Falcons committed ten first half turnover that led to 13 points for Youngstown State.  Conversely, YSU only had two first half turnovers and the Falcons did not get a point off of either turnover.  Balance was the norm for Slocum’s team in the first half.  Kendrick Perry had 16 points, was 3-3 on three-pointers, got five assists, was 5-7 from the line, and had a rebound.  Senior Ashen Ward had 14, and Blake Allen chipped in 12 points as YSU coasted to a 51-31 lead at the break.

The second half was much like the first in the sense that Slocum used his bench frequently.  It was a good opportunity to get some of the bench players quality minutes to ready them for tougher tests.  With 15:28 left in the game, Notre Dame actually cut the lead to 51-36, but the Penguins regained composure quickly and stretched their lead to 66-49 with 8:40 left in the game.

The win gets the Penguins off to a 2-0 start for the second straight season.  The win also elevates Slocum to sole possession of fourth place on the all-time Penguins Coaching wins list with 59.  He had been previously tied with John Robic, and now has 640 coaching victories in his 37th season.  Another landmark broken with the victory was Ashen Ward getting his 100th career three-pointer in the first half.

“I didn’t know that”, said Ward of his landmark trey.  “I always considered myself a shooter, now it is verified.”

Perry (below) had the best all-around game for YSU (2-0).  The sophomore poured in 18 points, had five assists, and seemed to be everywhere all night.  Ward finished the game with 17 points and Allen contributed with 14 more.  Eric Dummermuth paced the Falcons with 20 points and ten boards.

With 2:03 left in the game, Shawn Amiker, the last player to enter the game for the Penguins, hit a baseline runner while being fouled.  It was proof that interchangeable parts seem very much in order on Jerry Slocum’s assembly line.  The Penguins go back to work at home on Friday, welcoming U-C Riverside to town.

“We want to get the bench more involved earlier in games,” said Slocum.  “We have to develop those younger guys and it is better to get them in early and let the more experienced veteran players there in the second half.  We also have to play better at home.  At Samford, we played a full 40 minutes, it is much harder to play at home.  It’s a process and we have to keep growing.”

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.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball season are on sale now through Monday, Nov. 14, the YSU Athletics Ticket Office announced.

Fans can purchase reserved-seat season tickets through Penguin Club Membership at $140 or through the Penguin Package of $160, which includes all men’s and women’s games.  The ticket office also announced individual game tickets will go on sale Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Prices for individual reserved seats are $12 prior to game day and $14 on game day. General admission individual ticket prices are $8 prior to game day and $10 on game day.

Groups of 20 or more can purchase general admission tickets for $4 for men’s basketball and $3 for women’s basketball.

Faculty and staff may purchase regular-season game tickets at half price with a valid Youngstown State University Faculty/Staff ID card. Discounted tickets must be purchased prior to game day.

YSU students can obtain a complimentary ticket with a valid YSU student ID.

Two-time defending national finalist Butler University was voted the preseason favorite to capture the 2011-12 Horizon League men’s basketball championship, marking the third straight season the Bulldogs were tabbed in the top spot in voting by the League’s coaches, media and sports information directors.  Youngstown State was picked seventh.

Each of the top four teams in the balloting received at least one first-place vote, with Cleveland State edgingMilwaukee for third in the poll. Valparaiso took fifth, just ahead of Green Bay. In seventh, Youngstown State matched its highest position in the poll since joining the Horizon League, while Wright State and Loyola were separated by 12 points in eighth and ninth, respectively. UIC rounded out the poll.

No respect.

Coach Jerry Slocum seems unbothered by the preseason ranking and practices have been going well.  The team thrives on the selection, they can’t wait for the season to start.  Actions speak louder than words and Youngstown is in for a treat this season when they will get a glimpse of perhaps one of their best teams to hit the floor.

“Everyone grew up shooting and playing with the ball”, said Slocum.  “It is a sign of maturity when a whole team steps up and says that they went to get better on defense.  I think the learning curve at the defensive end of the floor is a significant change.  We are stronger in the weight room, more experienced, and a little tougher mentally.”

“We are focusing on getting stops, I think we will score points, which has not always been the case in the past.”