Archive for the ‘YSU Basketball’ Category

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team tied a school single-game record with 14 3-pointers but dropped an 84-79 decision to Butler on Sunday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Penguins fall to 6-9 overall and 1-5 in the Horizon League while Butler improves to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the league.

Sophomore Blake Allen tied a career-high with 17 points with five 3-pointers to lead the Penguins while junior Ashen Ward scored 15 points. Junior Devonte Maymon scored 13 points and senior Vytas Sulskis added 10 points with eight rebounds.

The game featured 14 lead changes and 12 ties with the last coming with 1:24 to go in the game when Maymon converted an old-fashioned three-point play.

After a tip-in by Butler’s Andrew Smith gave the Bulldogs an 81-79 lead, the Penguins had three different chances to tie the game but came up short and the Bulldogs made three free throws to seal the victory.

The Guins, who connected on 10-of-14 3-pointers in the second half, trailed by six, 72-66, with 7:15 to go but used a 10-2 run keyed by two 3-pointers by Ward and another by Allen to take a 76-74 edge with 4:07 to go.

But a 3-pointer and layup by Shelvin Mack gave the Bulldogs a 79-76 advantage before Maymon’s three-point play.

The Guins trailed by as many as nine points, 48-39, early with 17:58 left, but the Guins used a 22-5 run over the next 5:53 to take a 61-53 lead. During the run, the Guins hit six of their 10 second-half 3-pointers to take the lead.

Maymon and Blake each connected on two each while Ward and junior Dushawn Brooks each added a trey.

Butler, however, was able to regain the lead and scored 18 of the next 23 points to take a 72-66 lead.

The Guins return home to host Wilberforce, Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

In what could only be billed as a fair contest between Milwaukee and Youngstown State, the team that would make fewer mistakes would probably win.  Both teams came into Saturday’s game with nine game losing streaks.

In the first half, Milwaukee had a lead as large as 18 points.  Youngstown State carved and fought until that lead was shaved all the way down to  33-28 at intermission.  The Panthers used some good passing and kept finding open people to take shots in building a big first half lead.  Lindsay Laur had 11 points and Angela Rodriguez added 10 for Milwaukee.  YSU got a nice boost from Liz Hornberger who went three-of-three from three point range.  Hornberger fluttered into the game like a moth, but made an impact by half.  Brandi Brown also had 12 points and six rebounds.

In the second half, Youngstown State trimmed the deficit to one at 34-33 when Tieara Jones hit a basket.  Unfortunately for the Penguins, Milwaukee went on an 15-3 run and widened the margin 49-36 with 10:07 to go.  Kenya Middlebrooks hit a three, her first points of the game, at the 7:59 mark to make it 49-42.  Next trip down the court, Milwaukee turned it over and Macey Nortey hit a layup for her first points of the game to make it 49-44.  There were not a lot of people at Beeghly Center, but the ones that showed were loud and into the game.  Nortey would go on to score five points in a row for YSU, but with 5:00 left in the game, but Milwaukee would hold a 56-47 lead.

YSU, losers of 38 of their last 39 Horizon League games, scratched and clawed all they could but always seemed to be trailing by nine. With 2:08 left in the game, Milwaukee held a 62-52 lead.

Brown finished the game for Youngstown State with 22 points and eight rebounds.  Hornbereger finished with nine points, all in the first half, and Nortey contributed seven points (all in the second half).

Milwaukee got 19 from Lindsay Laur and 13 from Rodriguez.  Sami Tucker also scored 11 points and hauled in 11 boards for the Panthers.  The Panthers improved to 4-11, 1-3 in the league.

Brandi Brown talked about the loss for the Penguins.  “We dug ourselves a big hole in the first half .  We can’t do that and expect to fight back.  We know we can win and compete, but we have to get more consistent.”

Coach Boldon echoed the sentiments of Brown.  “Our offense was just miserable today.  We didn’t execute, we didn’t take care of the ball, and we got real tentative in the second half.  We also reverted to taking some crazy shots and passing up the good ones.  I was very frustrated.  To the halfway point in the season, we are about average.  This is a bad day to ask me that question because we were so bad today.  I think that the team is showing signs of improvement, but you can’t rebuild a program and expect to see improvement consistently each game.”

Sophomore Blake Allen scored a career-high 17 points and sophomore Damian Eargle added 15 points with eight rebounds and four blocks, but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped a 79-55 decision to Valparaiso on Friday evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Penguins fall to 6-8 overall and 1-4 in the Horizon League while the Crusaders improve to 11-5 overall and 3-1 in the Horizon League.  Allen connected on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and converted 5-of-6 of his 3-point field goal attempts, including four treys in the second half.

After falling behind 15-5 in early in the first half, the Guins used their own 15-5 run to knot the game at 20-20 after a 3-pointer by junior Ashen Ward with 5:15 to go before halftime.  After a 3-pointer by Valparaiso’s Jay Harris, Eargle hit a jumper to cut the Crusaders’ lead down to one, but Harris drained another 3-pointer to put Valpo up four, 26-22, with 4:15 to go.

The Crusaders pushed its lead by to eight points, 34-26, but a free throw by Ward and another jumper by Eargle trimmed the deficit to five, 34-29, at halftime.  Valparaiso opened the second half on a 20-4 run over the first seven minutes to take a 21-point lead, 54-33, with 13 minutes left.

Allen hit three 3-pointers over the next minute-and-a-half and junior Devonte Maymon made a layup to cut the Crusader lead to 12, 56-44, with 10:34 to go but the Guins would get no closer.

The Penguins visit Butler, Sunday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

When the YSU women play Green Bay is equal to when the YSU men play Butler.  Green Bay has been the power of the Horizon League the last couple of seasons.  This season, the Phoenix come to Youngstown ranked #20 in the country and Coach Matt Bollant had never lost to a Penguins team.  Conversely, new YSU Coach Bob Boldon had never lost to Green Bay, so something had to give.  Unfortunately for Boldon, his young Penguins took one on the chin while facing a monumental challenge, falling 71-57  to Green Bay.

In the first half, Julie Wojta scored 20, and YSU scored 20.  Unfortunately, the other Green Bay players chipped in 18 additional points and YSU trailed 38-20 at the half.  Wojta (pictured above) was dominant in the paint.  The Phoenix had 22 rebounds (ten offensive) in the opening half, YSU had ten (zero offensive).  Green Bay also scored an impressive 23 points off of 18 YSU turnovers.

In the second half, Green Bay showed no signs of letting up.  Kayla Tetschlag and Celeste Hoewisch offered an alternative to Wojta with a couple of buckets on consecutive possessions.  The good news for YSU fans was that this team never hung their heads or quit.  YSU cut the lead to 16 with 15:04 left in the game at 47-31 when Boki Dimitrov hit a three.  Maryum Jenkins (below) hit a three with 11:04 left to cut the lead to 13.  Brandi Brown scored her 11th point with 10:19 left to cut Green Bay’s lead to 11 and the Penguins deserve a big pat on the back for showing a lot of heart.

The last three times the Lady Penguins have shot 50% or better , they have lost.  All three of those losses have been to Green Bay.

Green Bay pushed the lead back out to 15 with 7:03 remaining in the game and never looked back building a 68-47 lead with 4:04 left in the game.

Green Bay improved to 14-1, (3-0 HL) and didn’t have their “A” game but enough to win this one.  Wojta paced the Phoenix with 24 points and seven boards.  Hoewisch also knocked in 18 points.  Green Bay converted 32 Penguin turnovers into 43 points.

Youngstown State (2-12, 0-3 HL) played respectfully.  Tieara Jones finished the game with 12 points, Brandi Brown had 15 points, and Dimitrov 13 to lead YSU.

After the game, Boki Dimitrov addressed why the Penguins lost.  “It is not acceptable to have 32 turnovers. Things have changed and we have a good leader.  Coach Boldon inspires us to act on his leads. “

Boldon discussed the monster that is Green Bay.  “They are a great team, very well-coached and what I would want our program to be like someday.  They ran a secondary trap that we have not seen and their girls are very fast and just reload to the ball.  They are the best team that we have played all year and we get to play them again.”

Youngstown State University had just ended 2010 on a high note with a dramatic win over UIC.  Then something happened, 2011 showed up, and so did Loyola.  Unfortunately, the Penguins struggled on both ends of the court in a very lethargic performance to open a new calender year and lost to the Ramblers, 83-53, to drop to 1-3 in the Horizon League.

In the first half, Youngstown State seemed a step slower on the offensive end and at least two steps slower on defense.  Loyola shot 63.6% from the floor, while the Penguins could only muster 32%, including 1-8 on three-pointers.  Loyola opened a seventeen point lead within the first ten minutes of the first half and maintained that margin coasting to a 40-22 lead at intermission.  Tre Brewer had a team-high six first half points for YSU, which just seemed out of sync the entire half.  Ben Averkamp posted 13 first half points for the Ramblers.

The second half started much the same way that the first half ended.  Loyola was ahead 49-26 with 15:58 in the game when DuShawn Brooks did what he could to keep the Penguins in the game hitting a jumper from the top right side of the key.  As luck would have it, the Penguins ran into a buzz saw.  With 13:31 left in the game, Loyola had a 56-31 lead, but more importantly, they were shooting 67.7% in the game to this point.  When a team shoots greater than 55%, they are hard to defeat.  With Youngstown State gasping for straws on offense, they would have had to keep Loyola at bay on the defensive end, but were unsuccessful with either side of that two-fold game plan.

Frustration was evident in the second half.  Vytas Sulskis fouled out with just under ten minutes left in the game.  The Penguins were trying, but were also committing hard fouls and playing out of their comfort zone.  With 6:51 left in the game, YSU was simply playing for respectability and pride.  Loyola was ahead 71-43.  YSU got a decent second half from Brooks who played hard on both ends.  Coach Slocum threw up the white flag with about five minutes left when he emptied the cupboard and let some of the low-minutes guys get some experience.

Brooks (above) was top scorer for YSU with 13.  Damian Eargle also scored ten points and gathered five boards in the loss.  Josh Chojnacki contributed a career-best seven points for YSU.  The Ramblers got 18 points from Walt Gibler and 17 from Averkemp.  Loyola shot over 60% from the floor as a team.

After the game, Jerry Slocum called the performance “one of the worst losses I can remember.”  Slocum also went on to say that the Penguins showed little heart and character in the loss.  “The energy was bad today, and we got outplayed badly.”

Loyola Coach Jim Whitesell was surprised at how easy the win came.  “Usually when we play here, the games are donnybrooks and go down to the wire. I feel for Jerry, I was just there the other night against Cleveland State.  We challenged our big guys [Averkamp, Polka, and Gibler] to step it up and they responded.”

YSU heads off to Valpo and Butler before returning home to face Wilburforce on January 11.

The Horizon League is probably the most unrecognized conference in NCAA-DI basketball.  UIC was YSU’s opponent on this holiday evening, and UIC had just beaten then-ranked #12 Illinois a couple of games back.  The Horizon League is no slouch, ask Duke.  As the conference rises in prominence, Youngstown State is trying to evolve with it.  The Penguins had not won a conference game in their last 13 chances.  Throw out the records and chalk up a conference win for the Penguins, 71-69, over UIC.

The first half featured good shooting by both squads.  Youngstown State had a lead as big as nine points in that first half, but UIC marched right back into things before half and the Penguins only lead 34-32 at intermission.  The story in the first half was three-pointers.  Both teams shot over 40 percent with YSU connecting on 7-17 and UIC nailing 4-7.

Ashen Ward had a career best night for the Penguins.  Ward was Mr. Instant in the first half connecting on 4-6 threes and finished the half with 14 points on his way to a career-high in points.  Ward hit another three in the opening minutes of the second half, he was on fire.  With 16:24 left in the game, UIC nabbed the lead, 40-39, when Robo Kreps hit a free throw to complete a three point play.  Ward responded with a deuce to give YSU the lead back on their next possession.

With YSU trailing 46-43, DuShawn Brooks hit a runner from the right side of the key coming in to cut UIC’s lead to one point.  Tre Brewer hit a finger roll to put YSU back up by one with just over twelve minutes to go in the game.  YSU was not getting many inside chances and had only attempted one free throw up to the 11:32 mark when Vytas Sulskis hit a pair to put YSU ahead, 49-47.

With YSU ahead 57-53 with UIC’s Paul Carter hit a runner from the left side and was fouled by Sulskis.  Carter hit the free throw to complete the old-school three and the game was tied again with 8:18.  Ashen Ward then hit his sixth and seventh threes of the game to push YSU’s lead to 63-58.  With 3:24 left in the game, and YSU holding a very slim lead of 65-64, Brewer gathered an offensive rebound and was fouled trying to put it back.  Brewer was unable to connect with either charity toss and UIC ended up taking a two point lead when Carter was fouled while shooting a three.

With 1:41 left in the game, YSU trailed 67-65.  Sulskis hit a spinning layup to tie things up at the 1:31 mark.  UIC could not score on their end and with less than a minute to go and the score tied at 67 apiece, Ward was fouled and hit one of two to put the Penguins up a point at 68-67 with 41.3 seconds remaining.  Carter hit a 15-foot jumper with 24 seconds left to put UIC back up by one in this see-saw battle.

Sulskis was fouled, a blessing for YSU fans because he nails his free throws, hit a pair to give YSU a 70-69 lead with 15.9 seconds to go in the game.  Kreps drove the hoop but threw up a wild prayer that barely drew iron.  Blake Allen hauled in the rebound with 2.9 seconds to go and was immediately fouled and put to the line.  Allen hit one of two to put the Penguins ahead 71-69 with 2.2 seconds to go.  UIC inbounded the ball but could not get better than a three-quarter court look and YSU held on for the dramatic win, 71-69.

Youngstown State (6-6, 1-2) was led by Ward, who posted a career-high with 26 points.  Ward answered every time the UIC seemed to gain momentum by hitting a huge bucket.  Ward finished the game 9-14 from the floor and 7-10 from three-point land.

UIC (5-9, 0-2) got 19 points from Carter who did all he could to keep the Flames in the game down the stretch.

After the game, Jerry Slocum commented on his team’s big conference win.  “We got a huge boost from our bench tonight.  Ash [Ashen Ward] stepped up and hit some big baskets.  They were keeping a close eye on Vytas [Sulskis] and that freed Ash up to get some good looks.  We have been asking Ashen to do a little more offensively and to take more shots.  The whole team battled hard and we came out with a big win.”

Ward commented on his holiday success.  “We took some extra shooting practice and it paid off tonight.  Give credit to our bench, they played well and everyone played hard.”

To sit at the media table at Youngstown State basketball games has been awesome.  To take pictures along the baseline at Beeghly Center when the YSU Penguins have a home game is a different kind of awesome.  You hear both sides of everything because you are real close to the YSU bench, but you hear the commentary of the fans also.   People are very critical of Jerry Slocum and quite frankly, I’m sick of hearing the criticism.  Here are some reasons why Slocum is the man, and hopefully stays at YSU for a very long time.

At a recent home game, a Penguin player threw a turnover, a horrible decision.  The Malone player finished the sequence by making a lay-up and then being fouled.  As Jerry Slocum paced the YSU bench area, I looked over and saw the disgust, from the very recent turn of events that just happened on the court,  obvious in Slocum’s face.

Then the heckling starts.  I hear people scream about how poor the coaching is.  I bite my tongue and shake my head and just glance at the stupidity around me sometimes.  Jerry Slocum is one of the most passionate coaches you will find in any sport.  He comes to the press conference drained, he leaves it all on the court just like he encourages his players to do.  Yet, there are hecklers.

Let’s be realistic about a couple of things.  Slocum may not be winning championships, but for the most part his teams are competitive and well coached.  Last year he lost everyone except Vytas Sulskis, Ashen Ward and Dan Boudler.  This year, Sheldon Brogden has walked away and turned in his uniform.  Why?  I’ll tell you why.  Hard-nosed old-school coaching, that’s why.  Slocum works his guys hard.  The lazy players quit or become headaches refusing to conform to a stubborn man who is very set in his ways.

Youngstown State is a football school.  Eric Wolford is doing a great job rekindling the fire that once burned between goal lines at The Ice Castle.  Jerry Slocum has done something Eric Wolford has not done yet, he has won over 600 games. 

Slocum could live without media, in fact, I think he actually despises going to press conferences after a loss.  Go find some Bobby Knight footage on You Tube and tell me that he wasn’t the same way.   Slocum has been a joy to cover and he has never given me any negativity or distress.  I do, however, pick and choose times that feel more appropriate when asking a question.

Jerry Slocum is a very private, family man.  He takes great pride in his personal relationships and glows when he talks about his wife or extended family.  He also takes great pride in what kind of product shows up on the court each game.  He is constantly thinking and his scowl is priceless, he wears his heart on his sleeve.

If I were in charge, which I’m not, I would surely try to find out how much longer he wants to coach and throw the paper down for him to sign.  I suggest keeping an eye on him during the game, it is really entertaining because he is working on so many different things.  He is an ace at riding the refs.  Watch how soon YSU gets a make-good call when Slocum questions something less than a minute before, it happens every game.  When a YSU player misses a free throw, he will just look at the ground like his stomach just turned.  These are admirable qualities you don’t get from a coach.  Consider yourselves lucky YSU fans, and Merry Christmas, Jerry Slocum!

The much-improved Youngstown State Lady Penguins welcomed their longtime geographic rival, the Akron Zips, to town for a finals week matchup.  The game was tied at 55 with just under five minutes to play, but Akron was able to clamp down and improve to 6-4 on the season, as they posted a 70-56 win at Youngstown State.

Akron carried a 31-25 lead into the locker room at the half thanks in part to shooting 44% from the floor.  Rachel Tecca led a balanced Zips attack in the first half with seven points.  Youngstown State got eight first half points from Boki Dimitrov including a couple of threes that kept YSU at a single digit deficit.  The Penguins launched 18 threes in the first half, hitting five.  The Zips also held a 20-14 rebounding advantage at the intermission.

The Penguins cut the Zips lead to 35-33 when Tieara Jones scored inside and was fouled.  Jones scored her tenth point to cut the Akron lead to one point at the 12:49 mark, but but Tecca responded on the Zips next possession to keep the lead at three.  Jones, a product of Rayen High School, again connected with 11:52 left in the game to make the score 41-40 in favor of Akron.  Jones was having one of her best nights as a Penguin.

Sina King gave Akron a 45-40 lead on a layup, but Kenya Middlebrooks hit a three coming back to keep the Penguins close.  Macey Nortey, who seems to hustle her heart out every game, had a steal and drove the court for a layup, and was fouled.  Nortey hit the free throw putting the Penguins in front for the first time in the second half at 46-45.

Middlebrooks was in a zone, hitting threes at will, she had three of them in a six minute span, including one at the 7:15 mark to put the Penguins back in front, 52-51.  Brandi Brown’s presence seemed like enough for Akron to really concentrate on shutting her down, allowing the role players like Middlebrooks, Nortey, and Jones ample chances to score.

Jasmine Mushington stepped up for the Zips and hit a couple of big baskets to give Akron back the lead at 59-55 with 3:54 left in the game.  Akron’s 9-1 run put the Penguins into fouling mode with 1:24 left in the game.  The Zips coasted home holding the Penguins to just one point over the final four and a half minutes.

Akron was paced by Tecca’s 19 points and 11 boards.  Youngstown State got 15 from Jones and 14 from Middlebrooks.  The Penguins finished 9-39 from three-point land.  With the loss, YSU fell to 2-7 and will not play at home again in 2010.

After the game, Coach Boldon spoke about his team’s collapse down the stretch.  “We look at film and see the things we do well, and the things we don’t do so well, and we are doing more things not so well right now.”

Tieara Jones talked about a piece of the machine giving way each possession.  “We play good defense, but if four people are on the same page and one breaks down, it can hurt the whole team and we had some of that tonight.  It wasn’t any one person in particular, just one of the four on the court would break down and it cost us.”

Youngstown State returned home to play a game a few days after being trounced by Robert Morris, 90-60.  To make matters worse, one of the team leaders, Ashen Ward, would be inactive with back spasms.  The Penguins last played Malone in 1963, and won that game 117-81.  Monday night, parody showed 50 years of progress and the Penguins didn’t post such a lopsided number, but managed to win the game behind stellar efforts from Vytas Sulskis and Damian Eargle.

The first half saw a sluggish Penguins team establish their presence inside.  Only four Penguins managed to score in the first half. Damian Eargle and Vytas Sulskis combined for 25 of the Penguins 33 first half points.  The other two Penguins to get any points in the opening half were Tre Brewer with five, and Dan Boudler contributing three.  Malone held their ground and trailed by only two at the intermission with the score YSU 33, and Malone 31.

Coach Jerry Slocum was handed a pretty cheap technical foul (below) with 6:31 left in the first half to help Malone stay in the game on a four-point swing.  Malone was paced by Eric Coblentz’s 12 in the opening half.

Coblentz gave Malone a 41-39 lead when he buried a three for his twelfth point as the Pioneers, who shot 45% from long distance in the first half stayed red hot.  Eargle responded with a bucket giving him 16 points, a new career high, to tie the game at 41 with 15:49 left in the game.  Sulskis and Eargle continued to propel the offense which pushed the lead to five with 12:00 remaining.  Sulskis hit a thunderous running dunk off of the right baseline to force the Pioneers to use a timeout to regroup.

Eargle was a man possessed and created problems for the Pioneers all night long.  He was blocking shots, making passes, and scoring. Sulskis hit his season-high 20th point to put YSU up 57-51 with 9:45 left.  The pesky Pioneers were surviving behind the arc hitting 50% for the game to this point.  YSU held a 64-54 lead with 7:53 remaining in the game.

The Penguins took their largest lead of the game with 6:11 left when Blake Allen hit a free throw giving YSU a 12-point lead with 6:21 left at 67-55.  DuShawn Brooks was starting to feel it hitting his second three of the night and recording his eighth point to push the Penguin advantage to 14.

Sulskis (above) finished the game with 25 points, one short of a career high on 10-12 shooting.  He also gathered nine rebounds.  Eargle would have his best all-around game as a Penguin.  Eargle finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, posting his first double-double of the season.  Eargle and Sulskis were virtually everywhere and played scintillating basketball.  Tre Brewer also recorded a career-high in both points (13) and rebounds (14).

Eric Coblentz played very well for Malone and finished with 21 points.

With the win, YSU improved to 5-4 on the season, but more importantly, seemed to pick up the pieces after a disastrous road trip in preparation for North Carolina State and Kent State in the immediate future.

Coach Jerry Slocum was reflective on his team’s effort.  “We got past the shackles of a hard loss and ran a lot of motion.  We played very well and regrouped.  That road trip we just came off of, every one of those teams did well in tournaments last season.  Heading to NC State and playing an ACC team will be tough, but I feel Kent State has their best team this season.  They will both be very hard games for us.”

Vytas Sulskis reflected on the night.  “Me and Damian are roommates and we had good chemistry going tonight.  We were finding each other and it wasn’t planned, it just worked that way.  I was hot tonight.”

Slocum praised the efforts of both Sulskis and Eargle as well. “Vytas played really well on both ends of the court tonight.  He and Damian toughened up on defense and we found a way to get into a rhythm in the second half.”

Youngstown State sophomore forward Brandi Brown has been honored as the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week beginning Nov. 22, the conference announced Monday.

Brown averaged 20 points and 8.5 rebounds in helping Youngstown State snap a 34-game losing streak and win back-to-back games for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

Brown notched her first double-double of the season – and 15th of her career – in Youngstown State’s 71-57 victory over Bucknell on Wednesday. She scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half in just 13 minutes. She added 11 rebounds and two steals, and she was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Brown then scored a game-high 17 points while posting six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in YSU’s come-from-behind victory over Ohio on Saturday. One of those assists came when she grabbed a defensive rebound and hit Macey Nortey on a fast-break lay-up with 55 seconds remaining that gave YSU its first lead of the second half.

Brown, a native of Pomona, Calif., leads the Horizon League in scoring with 20.2 points per game. She also ranks seventh in rebounding and ninth in 3-point field goals per contest.

Youngstown State’s last Horizon League Player of the Week was Jen Perugini on Feb. 28, 2005.

Last season,  Brown was pretty much robbed for Horizon League Newcomer of The Year as she was voted runner-up despite leading the conference in more statistics than the eventual winner of the award.