Posts Tagged ‘Vytas Sulskis’

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.

Snakebitten.  It is a word often used to associate a series of events that seem to be going positively, but end up negative, aka, the worst luck.  When asked, after Youngsown State’s 76-73 loss to Wright State, if his team was snakebitten, all Coach Jerry Slocum could do was ask a question back.  “Do you think?” 

Vytas Sulskis pondered the question a little deeper.  “It is difficult to deal with losing so many close games.  I don’t know what’s going on, it’s like we did something bad to somebody.”

Youngstown State has been tough, but has nothing to show for it over their last four games, all losses, by a total of nine points.  Teams can sweat their way through these nailbiters against YSU, but be guaranteed that there isn’t a team in the Horizon League who wants to draw the Penguins in the upcoming conference tournament.

Thursday night, it was Troy Tabler, with half a second left, throwing up a prayer from the corner, with a hand in his face to extend YSU’s misery.  The Penguins will use these close losses as motivation.  In all likelihood, Wright State will be the #2 seed in the tournament.  YSU also played Butler tough.  Everyone knows they can hang, nobody wants to see the Penguins, who have yet to put together a full 40 minute effort this season.

Wright State jumped out to an early lead but Youngstown State went up 8-7 with seven minutes gone. Vytas Sulskis showcased his defensive skills as he pinned an attempted Raiders layup against the backboard for a nice block.

The Raiders jumped out to a 15-10 lead with 11:12 remaining in the first half.  Dallas Blocker, who played a good portion of the second half with a bleeding nose,  got a hard-earned bucket on an offensive rebound and putback to trim the deficit to three.

Todd Brown rattled off five straight points for the Raiders to bolster their lead to 22-19 with 7:58 remaining in the opening half.  Sirlester Martin, who had been struggling, showed signs of a big game when he first hit a baseline jumper and later hit a layup while fouled.  It was Martin’s first successful free throw in six games.  Martin then nailed a three with just over five minutes remaining in the half to give YSU their first lead of the game at 24-22.

YSU upped their lead to 32-23 on a Zack Rebillot jumper.  Ashen Ward nailed a three with 2:09 left putting YSU ahead 35-23. The Penguins played up to thier capabilities on both ends of the court in what may have been their most complete stretch in a Horizon League game all season.

Wright State (19-10, 12-6) battled back from down twelve to down three using a 9-0 run to close out the first half.  At intermission, YSU was in front, 35-32, and squandered their huge margin.  Martin paced YSU with 14 first half points and Ward chipped in with ten.  Wright State got nine points apiece from Brown and Vaughn Duggins.

YSU held a 49-43 lead with 13:49 left in the game.  Ward hit a pair of free throws to give him 12 points for the game, a career high.  Sulskis scored in consecutive trips on offense for the Penguins who maintained a slight lead at 53-51 with 11:07 left in the game.

Wright State nabbed their first lead of the second half as Troy Tabler nailed a three to put the Raiders up by a point.  Martin hit a bucket for the Penguins to reclaim the lead, but the way the Penguins were playing late in close games, more than a one point lead would be a blessing.

Wright State came into the game as the best free throw shooting team in the league but struggled from the line going 13-21 as Brown missed a pair with 3:46 left in the game which opened the door for YSU.  Sulskis took an inbounds pass to make a layup and give the Penguins a short-lived lead.  Brown atoned for his lackluster efforts at the line when he stole the ball, drove half the court and slammed the Raiders into a 68-64 lead with 2:57 left in the game.

With the Raiders in front, 70-66, and 1:23 left, DeAndre Mays hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 70-68. Wright State’s Ronnie Thomas was fouled after gathering an offensive rebound, but Wright State continued to kill themselves at the line as he missed both.  On the rebound of the second miss, Sulskis was fouled and hit both to tie the game at 70.  With the rebound, Sulskis posted a double-double, his second of the year.

Duggins buried a pair of clutch free throws with 43 seconds left to make it a 72-70 advantage for the visitors from Dayton.  Mays drew a foul with 37 seconds left and hit one of two.  Tabler was fouled for the Raiders with 28 seconds left, where he hit one of two to raise the lead back to two.  Sulskis answered with his fifteenth point to tie the game.

Troy Tabler then launched his game-winning prayer and threw up a high-arcing desperation three that found a way in.  Another late dagger which sent the Penguins to another close defeat, losing their last four by a total of nine heartbreaking points.

Coach Slocum commented on the devastating loss.  “They shot 32 free throws and we only shot 18 in our house.  Our kids played very hard and have been fighting every game over the past three weeks.  They have to keep their pride.”

In the Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family went West in hopes of finding a way to prosper during tough times.  Youngstown State found themselves in that role Saturday night, as they went West in hopes of finding a way to prosper during tough times. 

Unfortunately, Youngstown State ended up losing their BracketBuster contest against UC Riverside, 62-60, in a real thriller.  Trailing by as many as 11 points, the Penguins rallied in the second half to tie the game at 60 on a Vytas Sulskis jumper with just 24 seconds to play.

UC Riverside’s Lateef McMullan took a shot with three seconds left that missed the mark.  David Chavarria grabbed the offensive board and hit a jumper just before the buzzard to boost the Highlanders (11-15) past the Penguins (8-19).

Kyle Austin took high scoring honors for UC Riverside with 13 points.  Vytas Sulskis (pictured) was the only Penguin to hit double digits and finished with 18 points for Youngstown State.

Coach Jerry Slocum and his Penguins have been so close but cannot seem to find the right combination of artillery to break through for a win.  YSU has lost their last three games by a total of six points.

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.

The casual college basketball fan would see that North Carolina Central had four wins and 17 losses coming into Youngstown State. What the casual basketball fan does not know is that this NCC team has lost to North Carolina, Iowa, Indiana, Miami (Fl), SMU, Ball State, Air Force, and Virginia Tech.

The Penguins had a balanced scoring attack and took good shots in getting by UNCC, 70-57.  The win snaps a four-game losing streak, but according to Sirlester Martin, the victory goes further than that.  “It felt good to get the win but it really helps us get ready for a league game this weekend.”

Youngstown State (8-12) did the right things according to their Coach, Jerry Slocum.  “We did the things you have to do to win basketball games.  When they cut it to seven, I thought we were patient and kept our composure.  We made free throws at important times in the game, and those are things you have to do to win.”

Dan Boudler tied things up at 15 with 11:51 left to go in the first half when he tipped in a partially tipped Vytas Sulskis shot. On the next possession, Sulskis hit a three that wasn’t tipped as the Penguins took an 18-15 lead with 9:41 remaining in the half, triggering an 11-0 Penguins run that would span over the next three plus minutes.

At the half, Youngstown State held a 32-21 lead.  Sulskis finished the first half leading the Penguins in scoring with eight points. Nick Chasten finished the first half leading all scorers with 11 of his teams 21 points.

With 11:28 remaining in the contest, YSU maintained their double-digit lead at 46-36.  Sulskis buried a three with the shot clock near zero giving the hometown the feeling that things were clicking.  Coach Slocum picked up a technical foul when he argued that an Eagles defender hit the rim.  Moments later, CJ Wilkerson hit a jumper to cut the Penguins lead to 49-42.

DeAndre Mays connected for three after the lead had been cut to four points to put the Penguins in front, 52-45.  Kelvin Bright was intentionally fouled meaning he got to shoot a pair of free throws and the Penguins retained possession.  Dallas Blocker got in on the action as he hit a pair of free throws to push the YSU lead back to double digits at 55-45 with 7:58 left in regulation.

With 3:44 left in the game, YSU pushed their lead to 64-47 when Sirlester Martin hit a 15-foot jumper.  CJ Wilkerson connected for his eighteenth points of the second half and had 26 in the game, leading all scorers, to keep his Eagles within striking distnace.  YSU thwarted any comeback when Bright hit a nice floating sweep through the paint.

Youngstown State showed good balance and poise in holding on for a 70-57 victory.  Balanced scoring for the Penguins translates to four players with at least 11 points and DeAndre Mays leading the way with 17.  For UNCC, CJ Wilkerson finished the game with 26 points.

Next up for YSU is Cleveland State on Saturday as the Penguins start to see Horizon League opponents for the second time.  Tip-off is set for 4:00 and the game can be heard on AM-570 with Robb Schmidt calling the action.

The lights just seem to project a higher magnitude when the words ESPN are attached to a camera. It is a treat to see Youngstown State play in a nationally televised game. It was also great marketing by the YSU Athletic Department to pack the house using reduced ticket prices. At night’s end, the Penguins could not pull out a victory, falling 69-59 to visiting Milwaukee.

Milwaukee held an 18-13 lead with 7:50 to go in the first half. YSU had earlier tied the game at 13 when DeAndre Mays delivered a perfect alley-oop pass to Kelvin Bright who slammed the pill home to absolutely rock the house.  Beeghly Center had not been that loud since the Kelly Pavlik fight in December.

Ricky Franklin hit a couple of consecutive long-range threes to jump the Milwaukee lead to 24-15 with 6:23 left in the first half. Franklin had already compiled 14 points and the Penguins needed to pay better attention to him.

The Penguins cut a little off of the lead right before the half when Ashen Ward nailed a three. At halftime, Milwaukee held a 31-23 advantage riding the hot hand of Franklin, whose trio of threes was pretty much the difference of a hard-played physical half.  YSU did not have a player with more than five points and shot just 1-10 from long distance.

At halftime, new YSU Football Coach Eric Wolford addressed the packed house promising that Youngstown State Football would be back on the map real soon and enticing the crowd to tailgate before the Spring game. Coach Wolford got a rousing ovation with all of his positive comments and is doing a great job promoting the future of football at YSU, especially the recruitment of local A-list talent.

The Penguins trailed 38-27 with 15:49 left in the game. Trailing by as many as 15, YSU started using a half-court press to rattle Milwaukee into committing a couple of turnovers.  Ashen Ward took the ball the length of the court off of a Milwaukee miss and layed it in as he was fouled. Ward also hit the free throw to cut the lead to 42-34 with 12:22 left in the contest.

DeAndre Mays got the crowd back into the action when he glided through traffic and hit a finger roll to trim Milwaukee’s lead to 45-41 with 7:28 left. Milwaukee went back to it’s most reliable source on offense, and Ricky Franklin again responded with another two points to make it 47-41.

With the Penguins down 50-44 with 4:39 remaining in the game, Mays again drove and scored. After James Eayrs converted for two to build the Milwaukee lead back to seven, Mays hit a three to cut the lead to just four points. Franklin responded again as he hit another three, his fourth, to re-establish the seven point lead at 56-49 with 1:59 left. Franklin finished the game with 21 points, taking high-scoring honors.

The Penguins went into ‘foul mode’  but Milwaukee was making the majority of their tosses from the charity stripe. Conversely, YSU could not score when they had the ball. The end result was a 69-59 Horizon League victory for the visiting team from Milwaukee.

After the game, Coach Jerry Slocum addressed the things that hurt his Penguins.  “We are not the type of team to take 27 three-point shots in a game, we took 20 more shots than they took and they had more turnovers.  We couldn’t make our shots tonight.”

Dallas Blocker had his best all-around performance of the season with eight points and eight rebounds.  Vytas Sulskis also scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds.  The Penguins will return to action on Sunday afternoon when they host Green Bay at 2 PM.

DeAndre Mays was determined to help his team win.  He accomplished that goal and set a career-high in scoring with 30 points as Youngstown State got by Loyola, 71-67, in a very physical and hard fought contest.  Mays became the first YSU Penguin since Kesten Roberts (2006-2007 season) to score 30 in a game.

Up until the last possession , Sirlester Martin, Kelvin Bright, and Mays scored every YSU point in the second half.  Dallas Blocker ended the game with the last three points, his only scoring in the game, which turned out to be the winning margin, proving the old adage that it is not quantity but rather quality that matters.

Youngstown State jumped in front 17-13 on some good 3-point shooting. Vytas Sulskis, Vance Cooksey, and DeAndre Mays all dialed it up from downtown in the early going. Ben Averkamp was hitting mostly everything he was throwing up as his three tied the game at 22 with 6:24 left in the first half.

The Penguins and Ramblers had a few lead changes with the last coming right at the first half buzzard. Sirlester Martin gathered in an offensive rebound and released the ball right as the backboard lit up to signify that the time in the half had elapsed. After several minutes of the officiating crew reviewing the replay, the basket was allowed and the Penguins ended up with a 32-31 lead as a result.

Martin’s tenth point of the night gave the Penguins a 43-41 lead with 13:29 left in the contest. The second half was played very closely as neither team had a lead larger than four points since YSU led 17-11 at the 12:00 minute mark of the first half.

Over the next nine minutes, the Penguins would claim a 57-53 lead riding the shoulders of Bright and Mays.  Over that span, the Penguin guards combined to score all but two of YSU’s points (15 in all).  Martin chimed in with a 15-foot baseline jumper to push the lead to 59-53 with 5:44 left in the game.

Terrance Hill, who had no points in the first half, hit an uncontested layup off of a steal, for his 17th point. Walt Gibler stole an inbounds pass off of a full-court press and layed it in to cut the Penguins lead to just one with 1:50 left in the game. Hill then hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 65.  The Penguins seemed troubled by the press again, but were able to overcome when they needed to.

“We could have wilted when they tied the game at 65 and felt sorry for ourselves.  I think DeAndre [Mays] did a great job on the three-point play.  I was proud of our guys and we didn’t back up”, is what Coach Slocum said about the resiliant finish. 

Mays drove the lane and challenged a few Ramblers in the paint. The bucket counted and the foul shot put the Penguins ahead 68-65. Loyola quickly retaliated as Gibler drove the left side of the lane and drew a foul, hitting a pair of free throws to cut the lead to one at 68-67 with 20 seconds left.

(photo courtesy of Ron Stevens)

Dallas Blocker came up with a big offensive rebound and was fouled in the act of scoring a huge basket, his first of the night, staking Youngstown State to a 70-67 lead. Blocker knocked down the free throw to make it a two possession game. Loyola could not score as time ran out and YSU had a 71-67 victory.

After the game, Coach Jerry Slocum praised the efforts of his team.  “Our kids really battled these last two games.  People were walking around a week ago saying ‘who are you’.  I think you saw tonight who we are.  That [Loyola] is as physical of a team as there is in this league and we overcame alot of things in that game.  We made foul shots we needed them.”

YSU (7-8, 2-4) has two big road games next week at Valparaiso and Butler.  Loyola fell to 11-5 and 2-4 in Horizon League play.