Posts Tagged ‘Kendrick Perry’

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.

The above picture would not say much if you just looked at it. The person shooting is Kendrick Perry, a Youngstown State standout.  He is something to see, always gives me something to write about and makes me say ‘wow’ at least once a game.

In a 53-49 win on Friday night, Perry put up subpar numbers.  He was 2-13 from the field, 0-5 from three-point land, and made 6-10 free throws, but missed three in overtime.

Back to the picture. This was taken a half hour after the game.  Perry wheeled the rebounding machine out and shot free throws for about an hour.  The gym was pretty well empty and I was so inspired by his dedication to do more, again, that I had to post the picture tonight.  Most players were happy to get the win, had their box of pizza, and were headed back to the dorms.  The last thing on Perry’s mind was pizza.

Perry might still be at the Beeghly Center, maybe he stopped to eat some of his pizza, but I would bet until he makes 100 or 1,000 or whatever number he has in his mind, he isn’t going to leave.  I’m thinking about driving back, now two hours after the game ended to bring the guy a Gatorade. You will not find many kids playing college sports with this kind of work ethic.

About a half hour into the unscheduled shooting practice, YSU Coach Jerry Slocum slowly walked, trying to mask a proud smile, toward Perry to talk with him (above).  Slocum has bragged about the sophomore’s work ethic in the past, but to me, seeing was believing.  After about a five minute chat, Slocum headed out, Perry put the earbuds back in and started shooting free throws.  I left about twenty minutes after that, even waved to Perry.  It was surreal to me that a sophomore in college would want to get better this much after his team won a game.

In an interview conducted earlier this year, Slocum marveled at some of the things that Perry has done to get better.

“I went to breakfast early one Saturday, and wanted to stop by my office before I worked out”, recalled Slocum.  “Nobody knew I was coming, but when I opened the door of the gym and heard a ball bouncing, I was in awe to see KP shooting, doing whatever he could to make himself a better player, without being told to.  Here is a kid who elected to wake up early on a Saturday morning and shoot without being told.  That is the attitude of a winner.”

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.

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.”

October 13 was Media Day for the Youngstown State men’s basketball team.  Things felt different, things are different.  Coach Jerry Slocum was optimistic about the group of student-athletes he has assembled for the 2011-12 season. Before the quotes get printed and before the stats are run, I will go on the record and say that this basketball team will win the Horizon League this year. It is obvious that everyone will have a different opinion of what to expect.  Read the facts before forming an opinion.

This team has a rare blend of quality senior leadership with Ashen Ward and DuShawn Brooks.  Ward has been a constant plus and Brooks is prepared to accept his role as a potential starter after getting quality minutes off of the bench last season.  The youth on the team is oozing with talent. DJ Cole, Chris Morgan, Danny Reese, and Cale Zuiker are all parts of a puzzle that Slocum has been trying to complete for the last six years.

“We paid our dues last year”, remarked Slocum.  “I like the balance, the attitude, and the work ethic that this group has shown.  This is a deeper basketball team than I have had and I am very optimistic that we can finish in the top-third of the conference this season.”

What Slocum (above) did not address is what I will.

Youngstown State lost two players last season, Vytas Sulskis and Dan Boudler. However, the Penguins are welcoming back players who were difference makers in a strong second half run where nobody wanted to play YSU. Damian Eargle, Kendrick Perry, and Blake Allen, along with Ward all got better as the year went on.  Adding in Shawn Amiker, Fletcher Larson, Mike Podolsky, Nate Perry, and Josh Chojnacki, gives Slocum incredible bench strength and balance he has not had the luxury of enjoying in past seasons.

Now, why I say the Penguins will win this league…  Valparaiso had a guy named  Brandon Wood.  He didn’t graduate or get drafted, but opted to transfer to Michigan State to showcase his talents in a brighter spotlight.  Wood averaged 16.7 per game in the 2010-11 season.  Also gone is Cory Johnson who dropped in 26 against YSU last season.

Butler made it to the National Championship for a second year in a row.  Their last loss before that game was at Youngstown State. The Bulldogs are going to be good again, but they are going to experience some growing pains this season.  Gone are Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack, Shawn VanZant, and Zach Hahn.  The Bulldogs will be good, but YSU has better talent this season.

Want more?  Norris Cole was about 45% of Cleveland State’s offense.  He’s going to be picketing instead of playing this season and the Vikings will not be the same tough team without Cole.  Milwaukee lost their top scorer and rebounder, Anthony Hill. Etc…

Basically, the Penguins have equivalent or better talent than every other team in the Horizon League this season.  Slocum knows how to win games (he is sixth among active D-I coaches with 629 wins) , and the players are committed to bigger things.

“This is a group that made a major commitment to the offseason, to our Summer program, and into the Fall”, commented Slocum.  “These guys know what Horizon League basketball is all about and they know about the challenges ahead of them, physically, in a very, very good league.”

“We have worked hard on building a mentality because we know that nothing in this league will be easy”, said senior Ashen Ward.  “We have a sense of dedication that I have never felt before.  Knowing that I can come to the gym at six in the morning and one of my teammates might be there before me is a great feeling.  It’s nice to know that someone is working as hard as me and that he is on my team.”

“I’ll go on the record right now and say that we can win the Horizon League”, said Kendrick Perry.  “We are always seen as the underdogs.  A win against Butler last season paved the way in letting us realize how good we can really be.  We all came here for one purpose, to win.  Everything goes easier when we share a common goal, and we are working hard to reach our goals.”

“I think that guys are coming in ready to work and the competition on this team is healthy”, said Blake Allen.  “We don’t feel pressure, but more excitement. The young guys have come in and really followed the lead of the older guys, everyone is working hard.“

“We come in every day and push each other”, noted DuShawn Brooks.  “I’m not a captain, but I am a senior and I will do everything in my power to help Ashen [Ward] be a leader when needed.  Everyone has been shooting free throws, working on ball-handling, and tuning up their fundamentals.”

Never known to be a successful basketball program, the soil has finally tilled the way Coach Slocum envisioned it would for the last few years.  Expect bigger things this season, expect a competitive program with someone different able to step up and contribute toward a win.  Expect a very strong current of fresh air, bigger crowds, better results, and success.  I do.