Posts Tagged ‘Youngstown State University’

Youngstown State University is turning into a home game winning juggernaut.  After years of struggling to compete in the Horizon League at home, on the road, in the Giant Eagle parking lot on 224, or at a neutral site, the Penguins have finally hit stride in the comfort of the Beeghly Center.  Sunday afternoon, the train kept rolling as the Penguins disposed of Green Bay, 77-47, with little resistance.  The win was the largest ever conference margin of victory (30 points), previously 25, for the Penguins.

“We were up by 13 at the half”, said Jerry Slocum.  “The maturation of this team has to be to put the hammer down when they get the chance to.  Coming out to start the second half, we were up 14, and it went from 14 to 20.  Our guys seized the moment with their defensive play.”

In the first half, the Phoenix held a two point lead a minute into the contest, it would be their largest and final lead of the day.  Youngstown State used an array of weapons to compile a lead as big as 18 points in the half, and eventually settled on a 38-25 margin at the break.  Blake Allen continued to produce for YSU, knocking down ten points to lead all scorers.  Kendrick Perry contributed eight and DuShawn Brooks six more to punctuate a strong half on both ends of the court for the Guins.  Coach Jerry Slocum had the luxury of using his bench frequently as eight different Penguins scored in the opening half.

“It’s a growing point and we talked at halftime about finishing”, said Perry.  “We preach about taking care of home court and I feel we are doing a good job of that this year.”

In the second half, the Penguins did something they have had trouble with in the recent past, holding a large lead.  Through the first five minutes of the second half, YSU outscored the Phoenix, 11-7, to maintain the double-digit margin.    At the 13:55 mark of the half, the Penguins held a 51-35 advantage.  Slocum was very careful not to mass-substitute at any point always having three starters on the court while getting Shawn Amiker (above), Josh Chojnacki, Nate Perry, D J Cole, and Fletcher Larson, were able to log some valuable game minutes with various combinations of the starting five.

In between the substitutions, the glue (starting five) of the Penguins kept everything tight.  Brooks was hitting threes, Ashen Ward was hustling and getting the dirty work done, and Allen and Perry did a good job working both the shot clock, and the Green Bay defense.  With 8:43 left in the game, the Penguins held a 67-43 lead.  The other Perry, Nate, hit a couple of threes to stockpile the lead to 70-45 with 7:38 remaining.

“I wanted to bring guys in to get them time with the ones”, said Slocum.  “Someone looked over at me and said we were up by 25.  I didn’t really care about the score as much as I did getting the bench some time to battle.  The bench players did a good job defensively for us.”

With the loss, Green Bay dipped to 3-6 in Horizon League play.  The Phoenix got XX points from Alec Brown and X rebounds from Kam Cerroni.

Youngstown State (11-8, 6-3) got 16 from Allen, 15 from Kendrick Perry, 12 from Ward, 12 from Brooks, and six from Eargle.  Eargle also had 8 rebounds and continued his streak of recording a block in every game this season early on, adding a few more to his record-nearing total.  Noteworthy in the victory was the good play Slocum got out of his bench, Nate Perry and Amiker are starting to look more confident each time they enter a game regardless of the situation or score.

The Penguins welcome Cleveland State Saturday as part of a doubleheader, which will start a half hour after the YSU women’s game that tips at 4:30 p.m.

Many things rolled into Youngstown on Friday.  There was some nasty Winter weather making it a great night for basketball, and the good turnout of fans at the Beeghly Center were treated to a very exciting basketball game.  Milwaukee rolled into town at 6-1 flying solo atop the Horizon League standings.  ESPN also rolled in as the game aired on ESPN3.  When the smoke cleared, the Penguins stayed in the race with a thrilling 68-66 win behind a career-best 27 points from junior Blake Allen.

“I thought we battled”, said Coach Jerry Slocum.  “We told the kids at halftime to stay up and expect Williams to play more minutes.  We also told the guys not to panic.”

In the first half, the Penguins showed their heart and determination.  Five minutes into the game, the Penguins found themselves in an 18-13 hole.  Despite the early offensive woes, Blake Allen (above) heated up scoring 22 first half points, going 6-6 from three-point range.  Allen absolutely caught fire and hoisted the Penguins to a 41-30 halftime lead.  The Penguins were doing a good job from a Goliath standpoint.  Despite being outsized, YSU was hustling and scrapping for rebounds on both ends of the floor.  Damian Eargle battled through a sore right wrist to post eight points, four boards and a pair of blocks in the opening session.

In the second half, Milwaukee closed the margin quickly.  Allen hit his career-best tying three and Kendrick Perry and Eargle had back-to-back breakaway dunks to put YSU ahead 51-41 with just over twelve minutes to play.  With YSU ahead 54-42, Milwaukee’s Ryan Allen hit for two and the  Paris Gulley connected on a pair of free throws to make it 54-48.  D. J. Cole was then fouled on a drive to the hoop with 8:28 left.  Cole hit the first of two and the Penguins jacked the lead up to seven with 7:38 to go.

“There were two keys to winning this game tonight”, said Slocum.  “First off, we outrebounded them, and that has been an achiles heel for us.  Secondly was we hit free throws down the stretch.  It gets contagious and when they start falling, it seems like everyone is hitting.”

At the 6:25 mark, senior Ashen Ward (below) hit a pair of charity tosses increasing YSU’s fast-dwindling lead to 57-52.  Kaylon Williams nailed a three to make it a 57-54 game, and then Ward went back to the line and hit two more to give YSU the 59-54 lead. Milwaukee took a two point lead on another Williams three that made it 61-59 in favor of the Panthers.

With 3:18 left to go in the game and the Penguins trailing 62-59, Blake Allen connected on a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game.  Milwaukee converted an alley-oop to take their thee-point lead back.  With 2:40 left, Kendrick Perry hit one of two free throws to leave it a two-point Milwaukee lead at 64-62.  Perry went right back to the line to shoot a one-and-one, and he was able to make one of two. DuShawn Brooks was fouled on the rebound of the second free throw and went to the line first tying the game at 64 , and then giving the Penguins a 65-64 lead with his second.

With just under two minutes to go, Haarsma connected on a pair of free throws to lift the Panthers back in front, 66-65.  Perry was again fouled and hit one of two to tie game at 66.  After an empty possession by the Panthers, the Penguins came into their offense slowly with under a minute to play.  Ward scooped up an offensive rebound and put it back with 31 seconds to play putting the Penguins ahead, 68-66.  The crowd rose to their feet with 18 seconds to go and Milwaukee holding the rock.  A three was off the mark, but rebounded by Milwaukee, where Damian Eargle, among the national leaders in blocks, had perhaps his biggest career swat to preserve the win.

YSU got a career-best effort from Blake Allen who finished with 27, including 7-8 from three.  Eargle also compiled a double-double putting up 10 points and ten rebounds and blocking four shots, including the stuff that sealed the game.”

“They are really tough, but we have done great at home so far”, said Allen.  When asked if he was ‘in a zone’ in the first half, Allen replied, “Definitely the case.  I have been in the gym and working hard and tonight it pid off for us”.

Milwaukee got double digits out of Williams (18 points), Haarsma (14 points), Gully (13points), and Ryan Allen (11 points).

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team played the 11th-ranked team in the country to within 15 points in the first 30 minutes before Green Bay pulled away to win 75-50 on Thursday evening at the Kress Events Center.  YSU trailed just 53-38 at the 9:56 mark, but the Phoenix went on a 20-5 run over the next 6:46 to separate itself from the Penguins.

YSU’s Brandi Brown led all scorers with 21 points and finished with 10 rebounds.   Kelsea Fickiesen, making her second career start, was next in line with nine points. She also had nine of YSU’s 28 turnovers, which Green Bay translated into a 33-5 edge in points off turnovers.

Lydia Bauer finished with 19 points, and Adrian Ritchie scored 17 points while making three of Green Bay’s eight triples.  YSU shot 45.2 percent overall, and Green Bay shot 49 percent. The Phoenix went 19-for-28 from the free-throw line while YSU was just 6-for-10.

The Penguins opened the second half on an 8-3 run to make the score 39-28 and force Green Bay to call an early time out. YSU still trailed just 56-40 with nine minutes left following a Brown bucket, but the Penguins scored just three points in the next six-and-a-half minutes. By that time, the Phoenix had built a 73-43 advantage.

Youngstown State will play at Milwaukee on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team (9-8, 4-2 Horizon League) returns home to entertain Horizon League-leader Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 20, at the Beeghly Center. Tipoff is set for 7:03 p.m. (EDT) and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.  The first 500 students to attend will get a free t0-shirt.

This is the 30th meeting between Youngstown State and Milwaukee in an all-times series that dates back to 1972. Milwaukee owns a 24-5 advantage in the series and has won that last four games and seven of the last eight games. In the last meeting, Milwaukee outlasted the Penguins in overtime, 94-87, at the Beeghly Center.

Milwaukee is currently 13-6 overall and leads the Horizon League with a 6-1 league mark, including winning its last three contests. The Panthers are coming off victories over Wright State (58-38) on Jan. 12 and Detroit (84-74) on Jan. 14.  Kaylon Williams leads the Panthers with 11.3 points and 6.2 assists per game. Tony Meier, James Haarsma and Ja’Rob McCallum are also in double figures averaging 10.3, 10.2 and 10 points per game, respectively.

Senior Ashen Ward has been the Guins’ go-to player over the last five games. The Cleveland, Ohio, native averaged 18.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He also shot 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the floor and 58.6 percent (17-of-29)from 3-point range.

With two 3-pointers against Butler, junior Blake Allen recorded the 100th made 3-pointer of his career. Allen reached the century mark in his 47th game played, which is the second fastest in school history. Elmer Brown (1998-2000) reached 100 made 3-pointers in his 45th game.

Junior Damian Eargle has recorded a block in every game this season. He has posted multiple blocks in 15 of 17 games and has swatted at least three blocks in 14 games. Over the last four games, Eargle has tallied 19 blocked shots for an average of 5.3 blocks per contest. He has also posted at least five blocks nine times this season.

Coach Bob Boldon said at the beginning of this season that his Lady Penguins would go through peeks and valleys as part of a long-term process.  Thursday’s loss to Loyola was just that, a game of transition.  Three years ago, trailing by 14 with more than a half to play resulted in 30+ point losses.  Saturday afternoon, YSU went back to the drawing board against a very good UIC team, and fought their way back into a game they appeared to have no chance at winning with three minutes left, forcing overtime.  The game was a valley, then a peek, then a valley again.  UIC took control for good in the overtime, hitting some threes and stopping YSU when they needed to as they escaped with a 77-68 win.

“Our kids did a good job today, even in the overtime”, said Boldon.  “Yesterday we had a good practice and they were just getting after it, so it was nice to see that carried over from yesterday.”

In the first half, the Penguins raced out to an 11-3 lead only to watch in evaporate.  A few minutes later, they were trailing 16-13.  Brandi Brown scored half of the Penguins points in the opening stanza pouring in 12.  UIC’s Taylor Foulks was killing the penguins with 14 first half points, going 4-4 from three-point range.  After 20 minutes, the Penguins trailed 30-24.  Foulks also hit a couple of key three-pointers in the overtime session to help preserve the win.

In the second half, Foulks hit another three that upped the UIC lead to 43-36 with 11:43 left in the game.  UIC increased the lead to 50-39 just under the ten minute mark when Jasmine Bailey pulled up and hit a jumper from the line. Monica Touvelle did all she could hitting a three to cut it to 50-42 on the ensuing possession.

Kenya Middlebrooks, one of the Penguins best shooters, spent most of the second half on the bench with four fouls.  Touvelle hit a three and connected on the baseline for two to cut the lead to 57-49.  Kelsea Fickiesen then connected on a drive that would cut the lead to six at 59-53 with 3:15 remaining in regulation.

Brown was determined to keep her team alive as she gathered an offensive board and made a shot to cut theUIC lead to 61-56 with 1:25 remaining in the game.  YSU used full-court pressure to add some heat, but UIC managed to get the ball downcourt and hit some foul shots down the stretch.  Middlebroks hit a three to make it 63-59 with 1:02 left in favor of the visiting Flames.  A five second call gave the Penguins the ball back but Fickiesen threw an errant inbound pass to turn it over.

Touvelle scored her season-high 14th point to make it a one point game on another three with 15.9 seconds to make it just 63-62.  Full court pressure caused a turnover on the inbound and YSU got possession with a shot to win the game.  Fickiesen was fouled on a drive and sent to the line for a couple of free throws.  After missing the first of two, UIC played ‘ice the shooter’, using a timeout.  Fickiesen hit the second to tie the game with 11.3 seconds remaining.  UIC brought the ball up but Fickiesen intercepted the pass and drove as far as she could before letting a hurried shot hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded ending regulation and forcing overtime.

Brown finished with 25 points on 11-16 shooting, she also hauled in eight rebounds for the Penguins.  Touvelle finished with a career-high 19 points and seems to be emerging as another weapon Boldon has with the ball.  YSU falls to 8-8, and 2-3 in league play.

“Our turnovers killed us”, said Touvelle.  “We are trying to cut back on them.  I had a big turnover in the overtime and we can’t make those mistakes and expect to win.  I missed more shots than I made, but my teammates encouraged me to keep shooting.”

For UIC, Bailey gathered 22 points and Foulks added an additional 23 caroms.  The Flames improved to 10-7 (3-3, HL) and looked like the better team until the collapse.

Youngstown State senior, Ashen Ward, became the third Penguin this season to be given Horizon League Player of The Week honors.   Ward is sharing the honor with Wright State’s Julius Mays.

The award is the first for Ward and marks the first time since joining the Horizon League that three different YSU players have won the honor. Junior Damian Eargle won the award on Jan. 2 and senior DuShawn Brooks captured the accolade on Dec. 5.

Ward helped lift Youngstown State (9-6, 4-1 Horizon) to its best start since joining the Horizon League, knocking down 7-of-10 three-pointers as the Penguins defeated Loyola, 68-64, before a 71-50 win against UIC. The senior recorded 21 points in the overtime victory on Thursday before finishing with 22 on Saturday, marking the first time in his career he scored at least 20 points in consecutive games.

In conference play, Ward is tied for fifth in scoring average at 14.6 points per game.

Tied with the Milwaukee and Cleveland State atop the League ladder, Ward and Youngstown State hit the road on Friday, Jan. 13, heading to Valparaiso (10-7, 3-2 Horizon) for an 8:05 p.m. ET contest on HLN. The Penguins wrap up the weekend at Butler (9-8, 3-2 Horizon) at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 15, with HLN covering the game.

Hot is a weak adjective to describe the way YSU played on both sides of the court in a 71-50 win over UIC.  The Penguins (9-6, 4-1) ran out to a 15-2 lead and never trailed in a game that they played like they should win.  With a stretch next week on the road at Valpo and Butler, the Penguins seem to be hitting stride at jut the right time.

Ashen Ward led a barrage of offense filled with threes and second chances.  Ward finished the game with 22 points, his third in a row with twenty plus, all wins.  It also marked a season-high for Ward.

“We started well and made shots”, said Ward.  “Our defense actually created chances for the offense.  Blake [Allen] did a great job pushing the ball tonight, Damian [Eargle] was setting good screens, and everyone was rebounding.”

At the half, the Penguins held a commanding 36-22 lead.  Kendrick Perry, steady as they come this season, had nine points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Ward, DuShawn Brooks, and Damian Eargle all had seven apiece at intermission. Eargle also compiled three first half blocks.  For a team with no ‘big guy’, Eargle sure does play big.  The Guins managed a good 55% from the floor in the first half.

In the second half, Ward (above) heated up.  The Cleveland, Ohio native scored seven consecutive points on two threes and a free throw to give the Penguins a 46-24 lead with 16:26 left in the game.  Perry and Blake Allen ran a beautiful two-on-one fast break that saw constant ball movement ending with a nice alley-oop pass that Perry laid in.  That made the lead 55-28 with 13:14 to go.

“This is probably the best we have guarded since I have been here”, said Slocum.  “When the shots go in at a 57 % clip, it’s really pretty easy.”

With just over ten minutes to go in the contest and the result pretty well determined, Coach Slocum started to unload the bench.

The Penguins played balanced and unselfishly.  Ward finished with the most points, with 22.  Look for him to be named Horizon League Player of The Week by Tuesday.  Eargle was solid as he racked up 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks.  Perry had 13 points, Allen contributed 10 more.

“Ash is our leader”, said Slocum.  “He’s the voice in the locker room, the voice on the floor, he pushes guys to practice harder, and he is probably the best leader I have had since I got here.”

UIC (5-11, 1-5) got 11 points out of Hayden Humes.  To their credit, UIC never quit playing and cut the lead to 64-47 with 3:33 to go, but the Penguins stockpiled enough wood in the shed to easily outlast them.

Kenya Middlebrooks scored 13 second-half points, and the Youngstown State women’s basketball team battled for a 55-48 victory at Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Penguins led just 47-45 and had four seconds on the shot clock with 1:40 remaining when Brandi Brown hit a bucket in traffic on an inbounds pass. Valpo hit a free throw on its possession, and YSU went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:09 to pull away.

Youngstown State improves to 8-6 overall, which is its best start since the 1999-200 season, and 2-1 in Horizon League play. Valpo, which dressed seven players and played just six, dropped to 4-11 and 0-4.

Youngstown State returns home to host Loyola on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.

* Courtesy of YSU Sports, John Vogel

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team (8-6, 3-1 Horizon League) seeks to match its win total from a season ago when it hosts UIC (5-10, 1-4 Horizon League), Saturday, Jan. 7, at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

This is the 28th meeting between Youngstown State and UIC in an all-time series that dates back to 1993. The Flames own a 21-6 advantage in the series. The Guins have won five of the last six contests played in Youngstown, including the last two games. Last season, YSU defeated UIC, 71-69, at the Beeghly Center.

UIC is currently 5-10 overall and 1-4 in the Horizon League. The Flames are coming off a 73-56 loss to Cleveland State on Thursday evening, but also have two overtime losses to league members Milwaukee and Wright State. Daniel Barnes leads the Flames with 11.3 points per game while Gary Talton and Darrin Williams are also averaging in double figures with 10.7 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.

If YSU can pull out they win, they would improve to 4-1 in Horizon League play and would also match the fastest group of Penguins cagers to get to nine wins since the 2000-20001 season.

This team is good, they didn’t play their best in an overtime win against Loyola on Thursday but still managed to come away with a win due to defensive stops and somebody different stepping up on offense the last few trips down the floor.

Earlier in the season, DuShawn Brooks and Damian Eargle played hot shooter roles for Jerry Slocum‘s team.  Ashen Ward has recently stepped up.  The senior captain from Cleveland is averaging 18 points and shooting 57.9 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range during that span. In four Horizon League games, Ward is averaging 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent behind the arc.

Butler used a 19-5 run in the second half and got 14 second-half points from Devin Brierly in a 73-64 win over the Youngstown State women’s basketball team on Thursday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

YSU grabbed its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 10:08 remaining, but the Penguins did not make another field goal for almost four minutes. By that time, Butler had gone on a 12-2 spurt to take a 60-51 lead. The Bulldogs had one 3-pointer in the first 30 minutes and five in their final stretch, four of which came from Brierly.

Brandi Brown had 23 points and 12 rebounds, both of which were game highs. Heidi Schlegel and Monica Touvelle both finished with 11 points. Brierly had 19 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures.

Butler led by as many as seven early in the second half and held a 48-43 advantage with 12 minutes left. YSU scored the next six points and took a 49-48 lead on Melissa Thompson’s bucket in transition. Butler called a time out, and Mandy McDivitt hit a trey to start the decisive run.

Butler shot a season-high 50 percent and was one point shy of its highest scoring total of the campaign. YSU shot 35.8 percent and was outscored 32-18 in the paint and 19-8 in second-chance points.

Youngstown State will play at Valparaiso on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.