Archive for the ‘YSU Basketball’ Category

It has been a tough few years for the Youngstown State Women’s Basketball team.  The Lady Penguins looked dominant and Brandi Brown scored a career-high 35 points as YSU coasted to a 72-58 victory over UIC.  Brown also tied a school record with 12 consecutive free throws made tying Brianne Kenneally and Liz Hauger.

With the win, the Penguins could finish ninth in the Horizon League.  It is a mark of improvement over last season and the Penguins improved to 5-23, and 3-14 in the Horizon League.  UIC fell to .500 at 14-14 with the loss.

The first half was all YSU.  The Penguins held a 41-23 halftime lead.  The 41 point effort in the first half was the second highest total this season.  Brown paced the Penguins with 17 points and five rebounds.  UIC got ten first half points from Briana Hinkle.  UIC turned the ball over 13 times in the half and got only one assist.  Youngstown State, which was outrebounded 20-18 in the opening half, shot 5-15 from three point land, whereas UIC did not attempt a three.

In the second half, UIC rallied to trail only 53-42 with 11:35 left in the game.  Too much Brandi Brown on this night, who tied her career high of 29 points with a pair of free throws at the 9:58 mark to restore a 12 point lead for the Penguins.  Liz Hornberger hit a three to also tie her career-high of nine points to put YSU ahead 60-49.

Jasmine Bailey, who played a great second half for the Flames, cut the Youngstown State lead to nine points at 60-51 when she followed her own miss.  The Penguins, however, responded when Tieara Jones hit a runner and drew the foul with 6:05 left to extend the YSU lead to 63-51.

The Penguins couldn’t ask for much more from Brown who finished with a career-best 35 points and 11 rebounds.  She was also an impressive 12-12  from the free throw line.  In fact, the entire Penguins team was a perfect 17-17 from the line.  It was Brown’s 12th double-double of the season.

While looking at his stat sheet, Coach Bob Bolden joked, “17 of 17, it was good coaching.”

UIC got 13 points from Bailey and Taylor Foulks contributed another 14.  Unfortunately for the Flames, it is hard to win on the road when you turn the ball over  17 times.

Boldon also commented on his team keeping composure down the stretch.  “This was a lot like the Cleveland State game.  We had a good lead at halftime and collapsed.  I left that game wondering if we had learned anything.  I got my answer tonight that we did indeed learn something.  I was happy that we were able to keep our composure down the stretch.  Brandi was fantastic. This might be the most complete game we played this year.”

The Penguins’ season ends with a 9-21 record while Valparaiso imroves to 22-10 and advances to face Detroit in the second round on Friday, March 4, a 8:30 p.m.

Sophomore Damian Eargle scored a game-high 21 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Eargle also blocked nine shots. Freshman Kendrick Perry scored 16 points with seven rebounds and five assists. Senior Vytas Sulskis and sophomore Blake Allen each scored 11 points.

Sulskis ends his career with 1,311 career points which ranks 16th on the Youngstown State all-time scoring list.

The Guins trailed by 19 points, 65-46 at the 12:21 mark of the second half, but used a 24-6 run over the next 10 minutes to get within one, 71-70 with at the 2:47 mark.

With 3:40 to play and trailing by six, Perry scored five straight points for the Guins – a 3-pointer and a jumper – to bring the Guins within one. 

Brandon Wood hit two clutch jumpers to put Valpo up four, 75-71, and the Crusaders hit five of their last six free throws to seal the game.

Keyed by six points by Eargle and four by Perry, the Guins scored 12 straight points to cut the deficit down to seven points, 65-58, after a jumper DuShawn Brooks with 8:41 to go.

The Crusaders, however, answered with the next four points to regain an 11-point advantage, 69-58, at the 7:50 mark.

Two free throws by Allen, a jumper by Eargle and a 3-pointer by Allen brought the Guins within four before Cory Johnson hit a jumper at the 3:54 mark to give the Crusaders a six-point edge, 71-65.

In a first half that featured nine ties and six lead changes. the Guins shot 50 percent but committed 10 turnovers which led to 15 Crusader points.

The Guins built a 10-point lead, 20-10, after using a 12-2 run midway through the half.

The Crusaders, though, scored the next 12 points to take a 22-20 advantage and held the Guins scoreless for more than four minutes.

After a 3-point play by Allen and a jumper by Eargle, the Guins regained a 25-22 lead at the 7:52 mark.

Perry hit two free throws at the 4:39 mark to give the Guins a 33-32 lead but the Crusaders outscored the Guins, 12-2, to take a 44-35 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.

Youngstown State Head Coach Jerry Slocum is one of 18 active coaches with more than 600 career victories.  He currently ranks tied for sixth among active Division I coaches with 638 career wins. Valparaiso Head Coach Homer Drew also has 638 career victories. One of the coaches will have 639 and one will still have 638 after this game.  It is kind of a neat, underlying theme to the first round Horizon League matchup pitting YSU against Valpo.

As far as the game itself is concerned, this is the 32nd meeting between Youngstown State (seeded ninth) and Valparaiso (seeded fourth) in a series that dates back to 1989.  The Crusaders own a 24-7 advantage in the all-time series and have won the last 12 contest.  The Crusaders swept the season series from the Penguins, winning 79-55 in Valparaiso on Jan. 7 and 86-76 in overtime in Youngstown on Feb. 5. The last time the Guins defeated the Crusaders was a on Jan. 15, 2000, at the Beeghly Center.  The last time the Guins won at Valparaiso was a 69-66 win on Jan. 24, 1998.

The Guins and Crusaders have met twice in the postseason when both were members of the Mid-Continent Conference.  Valparaiso defeated Youngstown State in the 1998 Mid-Con championship game, 67-48, and in the 1995 second round, 77-52.

Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. EST at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Youngstown State  Sophomore Damian Eargle was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team in a vote by the league’s head coaches, sports information directors and selected media outlets, the league office announced on Monday.

Eargle is averaging 11 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.7 percent from the floor.

Eargle also led the Horizon League in blocks per game and his 86 blocked shots ranks second on the Youngstown State single-season list, yet he was left on the league’s all-defensive team by the league’s coaches.   He also ranks seventh in the Horizon League in rebounding and seventh with 4.0 defensive rebounds per game.

How can a player that leads the conference in blocked shots be left off of the all-defensive team?  C’mon Horizon League, share the love.

The 6-foot-7 forward has scored in double figures 14 times and posted two double-doubles.

Cleveland State rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds to beat the Youngstown State women’s basketball team 76-71 on Saturday at the Wolstein Center.

YSU’s Brandi Brown scored 28 points, and Tieara Jones had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Shawnita Garland scored 25 points for Cleveland State, including eight in the final minute. Her steal of a short pass and fast-break lay-up with a minute remaining broke a 66-66 tie.  Shalonda Winton added 20 points for the Vikings, who improved to 17-10 overall and moved into a tie for third place in the league standings at 10-6.

Cleveland State held its largest lead of the game at 43-36 with 15:26 left, but Youngstown State scored 16 straight points over the next three minutes to go up 52-43. Boki Dimitrov’s basket then gave the Penguins their largest lead at 63-51 with 7:04 remaining, but Cleveland State went on a 15-1 run to regain the lead on Garland’s bucket with 2:44 left.

Brown’s basket with 2:24 remaining tied the score at 66-66, and neither team scored until Garland’s steal and lay-up with a minute left. Honesty King hit two free throws with 38.2 seconds remaining to put the Vikings up four, but Brown’s old-fashioned three-point play cut the margin to 70-69 with 25.6 ticks left.  Garland made two free throws for the Vikings to put them up 72-69, and Jones missed the tying 3-pointer from the wing with 14 seconds left. Garland made two free throws with 11.3 seconds remaining, and she hit two more with 4.6 seconds on the clock to finish it off.

Jones had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists at halftime, and Kenya Middlebrooks added seven. Winton had 11 at the break to lead all scorers. Brown had just six points at halftime but erupted for 22 in the second period.

Although the Penguins were turned away late for the second straight game against a top-tier team in the Horizon League standings, they showed a big improvement from their first game against the Vikings. Cleveland State beat YSU 86-65 at Beeghly Center when the teams played on Jan. 29. CSU outscored the Penguins 50-12 in the paint and held a 42-25 rebounding edge in that contest. Today, YSU outscored Cleveland State 34-28 in the paint and matched it on the glass with 30 rebounds.

Youngstown State University could probably describe this season in two words, up and down.  Thursday at Beeghly, YSU played a sloppy game and lost to Green Bay, 71-60.  Damian Eargle shined in the loss, but too many chances eluded the home team in defeat.

“We did not have a good effort tonight”, said Coach Jerry Slocum. “In fact, it was probably our worst effort in the last three weeks.  Tonight was a step backwards, it was very disappointing.  As bad as we played, at the media timeout we were only down eight and had the ball, but couldn’t execute.”

In the first half, the Penguins struggled from the field shooting only 37%.  YSU also suffered one of their worst halves from three-point distance all season managing to make only 2 of 12 attempts (16.7%).  Green Bay, holding a 30-23 lead at intermission, attempted exactly as many threes and hit two more than YSU did which was pretty much the difference in a sloppy first half for both teams.  Damian Eargle had 8 points and a pair of blocks, needing just one more to take sole possession of second on the all-time swat chart, which he got in the second half.  Rahmon Fletcher and Alec Brown had eight points each to lead Green Bay.

The Phoenix opened the second half on a 10-2 run and opened a 40-25 lead, but Youngstown State responded and cut the lead to 42-34 when Kendrick Perry canned a three with 13:26 left in the game.  For three possessions in a row, YSU seemed to have control of things.

Each time Youngstown State would hit a couple of shots, Green Bay would roar back.  Green bay was having a good game tipping in offensive rebounds.  With the Phoenix ahead 52-41, Eargle grabbed an offensive board and hit a reverse layup to cut the lead to 54-46 with 7:22 left.  Green Bay got a three from Bryquis Perine hit a three to extend the Green bay lead to 59-46 with 4:54 remaining.  The Penguins were losing on the mini-run exchanges as time was slipping away.

Youngstown State made a final push with three minutes to go, but trailed 60-51.  The Penguins would never get closer and ultimately played the intentional fouling game the rest of the way out in the loss.

Youngstown State was lead by Eargle who tallied 19 points and had 4 blocks.  Kendrick Perry (above) chipped in with 19 points for the Penguins who dropped to 9-19, and 2-15 in the Horizon League.  “We got on a run, then we would get lazy.  We dug a big hole early and couldn’t get out of it.  We thought we could just come in here after the big win against Bowling Green and pick up where we left off, but it doesn’t work that way”, remarked Perry, who is playing with a couple of jammed fingers on his shooting hand.

Green Bay got 18 points from Fletcher, and 19 more from Perine.  The Phoenix ran their series record against YSU to 23-6 with the win and improved to 14-16 and 8-9 in the Horizon.

Youngstown State University gets to play in an ESPN Bracket Buster game every year.  A bracket buster is simply a game that allows the selection committee a chance to check out bubble teams against non-league opponents.  Wins and losses pretty much determine the automatic bids and YSU is probably not going to get an at-large bid.  Bowling Green of the MAC was the non-confernce opponent that the Penguins faced on Saturday.  YSU got 23 from Ashen Ward and held off Bowling Green for an 83-76 win.

“The things that the other guys were doing set up my shots”, said Ward, who added six rebounds.  “It feels really good to do all of the things we had to down the stretch and pick up the win.  To come out on the right side of a close game feels really good for us.”

In the first half, the Falcons and Penguins played pretty evenly with BG holding a 46-43 lead when the horn sounded.  Jordan Crawford had 13 and A’uston Calhoun chipped in with twelve for Bowling Green.  Youngstown State got 12 from Ward and 10 more from Vytas Sulskis. The story in the first half was Bowling Green shooting over 60% from the field and YSU shooting over 40% from three.  Unfortunately, YSU is 0-10 this season when trailing at half.

In the second half, Youngstown State, on the tenth lead change of the game, went ahead on a Damian Eargle left-handed slam.  The Penguins trailed 58-57 when Sulskis was fouled attempting a three.  The Lituanian-born Sulskis hit two of three charity tosses to put YSU ahead 59-58 with 13:31 left in the game. Torian Oglesby hit a two-handed slam with 9:57 left to put Bowling Green back in front 65-64 but Ward responded for the Penguins with 8:35 left putting YSU ahead 66-65.  Next trip up, Sulskis kicked the ball out to Ward who hit his sixth three of the game and gave the Penguins a 69-65 lead, their largest of the game, with 7:48 left to go.

Kendrick Perry, playing with a finger he jammed at practice, hit a miracle three with the shot clock winding down to increase the Penguins margin to 74-65.  Luke Kraus hit a three for Bowling Green with 4:23 left to stop a 12-0 Penguins run and cut the lead to 74-68.

Perry had a steal and a dunk to give YSU a 79-68 lead and rile the crowd.  Bowling Green then connected on two quick three-pointers Kraus to cut the big lead down to five at 79-74 with 1:34 left.  BG went into foul mode with 53 seconds left.  Perry and Eargle both missed the front ends of a one-and-one.  With 25.5 seconds left, Blake Allen hit a pair to jack the lead to

With the win, Youngstown State improved to 9-18 and continue to build positive momentum leading up to the Horizon League Tournament in March.  Bowling Green slipped to 12-15 with the loss.

YSU got 23 from Ward, 17 from Sulskis, and 15 from Eargle.  Credit the Penguins for being able to win despite poor free throw shooting down the stretch.

After the game, Jerry Slocum talked about playing well AND getting a win.  “Two factors contributed to this win.  One, we played tremendous defense in the second half and our guys did well with our matchup adjustments.  Secondly,we had a 24 assist to six turnover ratio. When you do that good of a job protecting the ball, beating the trap, and finding open guys, you should win.  Our guards had a 13-1 turnover to assist ratio.  Credit our guys for keeping their heads up after three hard losses.”

Detroit went on a big run in the first half and scored 12 of the final 14 points of the game to beat the Youngstown State women’s basketball team 52-43 on Thursday evening at Calihan Hall.

Brandi Brown scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Youngstown State, which led 41-40 with 7:26 remaining. No Penguin other than Brown scored in the final 14 minutes.

Detroit shot just 33.3 percent and committed 10 more turnovers than the Penguins but held a 55-31 edge in rebounding.

Dominique Dixon came off the bench to score 12 points to lead Detroit, and she scored six straight points for the Titans as they started their final push. Britney Murphy also had 11 off the bench, and Yar Shayok grabbed 16 rebounds despite playing in foul trouble most of the night.

YSU shot 25 percent overall and 26.1 percent from 3-point range. The Penguins had just five turnovers.  The Titans went on a 17-2 run over four-and-a-half minutes in the first half as they turned a nine-point deficit into a 30-25 lead at halftime.

Detroit started 2-for-11 as YSU built a 13-4 lead. Brown scored her 10th point of the contest with 14:44 remaining to give the Guins a nine-point advantage. YSU then went without a field goal for almost five minutes, but Detroit was only able to trim the deficit down to 13-7.

Tieara Jones hit a free throw, and Brown’s jumper put the Penguins up 16-7 with 10:01 left. Detroit then went on a 17-2 run and took its first lead when Dixon hit a jumper with 3:38 left. The Titans ended up going ahead 24-18 at the 2:22 mark before Brown’s jumper off a good post move stopped the long drought.

Detroit led by as many as eight in the half before Macey Nortey hit both of her one-and-one free throws with 0.7 seconds left to make the score 30-25 at the break.  The Titans hit just five of their first 20 attempts from the field, but they closed out the half by making seven of their last eight shots.

Detroit took its largest lead of the game at 36-27 with 16:54 remaining, but the Titans did not score again for nearly nine minutes as YSU went on a 10-0 run to go up 37-36. Neither team led by more than one until Dixon ended a 12-and-a-half minute field-goal drought the Titans that put them up 44-41 with 4:19 to play.

Dixon stole a pass and hit a lay-up under Detroit’s basket to put the Titans up 46-41, and Brown hit a jumper on YSU’s next possession to end a four-and-a-half minute drought with 2:58 remaining. The Penguins did not score again, and Detroit scored the final six points.

Youngstown State will play at Wright State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. but was moved up a half hour earlier this week.

Vytas Sulskis is currently 17th on Youngstown State University’s all-time scoring list.  He will probably move up that list at least one more spot before the senior from Lithuania is finished playing college basketball this season.  Sulskis is an interesting character who said hello to just about everyone who walked by while we were getting ready for this interview, more impressively, he knew all of them by name.  You will not find a friendlier or more outgoing person who has a smile on his face and a zest for life that few can match.

Paneech: What are the biggest cultural differences between Lithuania and the United States?

Sulskis: The biggest difference is the people.  The people in America are more friendly and more willing to help you.  A host family offered their house to me in Florida for two years.  The other difference is food.  People in Lithuania have more home-cooked meals, the wife, or mother, cooks a meal every night.  Here you have so many choices and can eat whatever you want on any night.  You can grab a pizza or anything really.

Paneech: How often do you talk to the family back home?

Sulskis: I try to talk with them at least once a week on Skype.  It is a seven hour time difference and I usually have practice in the afternoon, so usually I try to talk with them on Sunday.  I got my webcam and they have theirs so I show them my room and all that. Usually, I go home once a year for the Summer, but last year I stayed to work out and be better prepared for my senior year.  They will not make it here for Senior Night, but my host family from Florida is going to come.

Paneech: You are now one of just 32 men to ever score 1,000 points at Youngstown State, you are also jetting up the scoring list and currently sit in the 17 spot.  How do you feel about being in such elite company?

Sulskis: It’s nice to accomplish something that only 32 people ever did before, it’s a nice individual accomplishment.  I think I would rather take a couple of wins instead of moving up the list.

Paneech: You and Dan Boudler have the most history with Coach Slocum, how tough is he to play for?

Sulskis: Coach Slocum is an intense coach.  He demands a lot, but he pushes people to be their best.  Off the court, he is a really good guy.  Some people walked away from this program because they thought they were going to average 20 points per game. They had one vision and Coach Slocum had other visions and stuck with his system.  We bonded better this year, and we are losing, but we are playing much better and losing closer games.  We still work hard for coach everyday in practice and no one is quitting on this season.

Paneech: You are quite active on Twitter.  How did you start with it, how many followers do you have, and are you addicted?

Sulskis: A couple of years ago when it started, I figured I would try it out and just follow rich and famous people.  Then more and more people joined and I stayed active and it is now pretty fun to go on there and mess with my teammates and give them a hard time after something funny happens.  I have 150 followers, I think?  (Laughs).  The internet is huge.

Paneech: How close are you with Dan Boudler and Ashen Ward being the only holdovers from last year that played?

Sulskis: We are really close.  Dan and I have been together since our freshman year, we were roommates.  Dan is a chill, low-key kind of guy and I am more talkative and outgoing.  Ash is a great guy and we try to hang out as much as possible and have some fun on the weekends.  Damian [Eargle] is my roommate now, he is a lot like me in the sense that he is funny and also very outgoing.  We have spent a lot of time getting to know each other and he is a really funny guy.

Paneech: How are the new guys?

Sulskis: They are a very talented bunch of players.  I don’t think we have ever had this talented of a group.  They are all really good guys too.  Kendrick Perry is from Florida, so we have something in common and we know some of the same people.  All of the other guys who transferred in from junior colleges are really cool guys too and we enjoy being around each other.

Paneech: What happens to Vytas Sulskis when this basketball season ends?

Sulskis: Well, I am trying to get my degree in Management Information Systems finished by June.  When I am done, I would like to go play basketball professionally in Europe somewhere.  I chose my major because I really liked law, but if I would have studied law here, the laws in Lithuania are very different.  I took a liking to programs that help run businesses more efficiently, so I went towards business, hoping maybe I could do something with sports management.  I know three languages and that can’t hurt me.  I am going to go back to Europe either way.

Paneech: Other than basketball, what has been your most rewarding experience in the United States?

Sulskis: I have been fortunate to meet some really good people.  I know they say that Youngstown is a bad place, but it is not a bad place. I have a lot of friends on campus, I will always remember the people from here.

One Word Answers

Favorite Fast Food Meal: The $5 Beefy Crunchwrap Box at Taco Bell.

One Word To Describe Coach Slocum: Intense.

Favorite Team To Play Against: UIC, I usually do well against them.

Favorite Toppings On A Pizza: Pineapple and Ham.

Favorite Beverage: Water.

Favorite NBA Player(s): Arvydas Sabonis and Manu Ginobili.

Song People Wouldn’t Expect To Be on Your ipod: A lot of techno.

Favorite TV Show: Jersey Shore.

Favorite Fruit: Grapes.

Animal at The Zoo That Is Most Like You: Big furry lion.

Coming into Saturday’s game against Valparaiso, Youngstown State had only one Horizon League win, a 61-55 victory over the Crusaders in Indiana.  Brandi Brown and Kenya Middlebrooks combined for 51 points in leading the Penguins to the season sweep of Valpo with a 79-76 win.  The Crusaders made it interesting down the stretch, but YSU was able to hold on for the win.

In the first half, Youngstown State never relinquished the lead and had as big of a margin as 14 points.  Brandi Brown, still limping from a knee injury suffered on Thursday, had 19 first half points on 9-10 shooting from the field.  Valpo got 16 first half points from Tabitha Gerardot but YSU would head into the locker room with a 44-34 lead.

In the second half, Tieara Jones (above) picked up her fourth foul with just over 17 minutes to go forcing Coach Bob Boldon to rest one of his better rebounders.  Kenya Middlebrooks picked up the slack for the Penguins.  Middlebrooks only had five first half points on a three-pointer and a standard two, but exploded for seven threes in the second half.  Middlebrooks had tied the school record once already this season with seven threes earlier, and duplicated the fete again on Saturday.

Youngstown State had a 62-52 lead in the game with 7:11 remaining.  Gerardot was doing all she could to keep Valpo in the game, literally scoring half of her teams 52 points, with 25 of her own to this point.  Valpo cut the lead to 68-62 with 2:42 left when Skyler Gick hit a pair of free throws.  Brown hit a pair of charity tosses on the Penguins next possession to push the lead back to eight.  The Crusaders still had life when Ashley Timmerman hit a three, cutting the lead to just three at 73-70.  Timmerman hit another three to make it 75-73, but Boki Dimitrov hit a runner to increase the margin to 77-73.  Laura Richards hit another three making it a one-point game.  Dimitrov was fouled with 5.5 seconds remaining and hit both shots to give YSU a 79-76 lead.  Timmerman had a look on Valpo’s final possession but could not connect preserving the Penguins 79-76 win.

With the win, Youngstown State picked up their fourth win overall and second in the conference (both against Valpo).  Brown finished with 28 points and 5 rebounds, her career high in points is 29.  Middlebrooks (above) finished the game with a career-best 23 points, besting her old mark of 22.

Valpo fell to 6-19 (3-10 HL) with the setback.  Gerardot did her part with 25 points for the Crusaders.

After the game, a happy Coach Boldon talked about his team shooting a season best 62% for a half.  “I’m very pleased with the effort tonight.  Offensively, that was our best first half, by far.  The last five or so games, we have had to play from behind, so it was different tonight in the sense that they were making runs at us with a lead.”