| Fast Start Keys Men's Basketball to 76-71 Victory Over Loyola |
| Saturday, December 30 2006 |
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| Youngstown -- Youngstown State took a 17-point halftime lead and Keston Roberts hit three free throws late to cap a career-high 30-point performance in a 76-71 victory over Loyola on Saturday. Roberts was 9-of-18 from the field, 10-for-13 from the line and scored YSU's first eight points as the Penguins led 16-5 just over six minutes into the game. Quin Humphrey finished with 20 points and nine rebounds while John Barber scored 10 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Mikko NIemi added seven points and had five assists in 39 minutes in his second career start. A 10-2 run gave YSU a 36-17 lead with six minutes remaining in the half, and a Niemi free throw with 1:07 left gave the Penguins their largest lead at 46-26. Loyola battled the entire second half and got within one with 21 seconds remaining on a Tracy Robinson jumper. Roberts then hit his first of two free throws and made two more after rebounding his miss to put YSU up four. Roberts started the second half with a reverse layup to put YSU up 19, but Loyola scored the next nine points to make the score 48-38 with 14:59 remaining. After a Leon Young jumper made the score 57-52, Niemi hit a 3 and Roberts made a highlight-reel dunk to put YSU back up by 10 with 6:28 to play. Majak Kou scored 10 straight points for Loyola, including two free throws with 47 seconds remaining. The Ramblers' full-court pressure forced a turnover to set up Robinson's jumper that cut the lead to one. Kou finished with a career-high 30 points while Blount finished with 13 and Young had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Penguins shot 51 percent overall, including a 56.3 percent effort in the first half, while Loyola shot 38.1 percent. The Ramblers hit 12-of-13 from the free throw line in the second half. The Penguins will play host to Akron on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. |
| Penguins Get First Win at Kent State in 50 Years |
| Saturday, December 23 2006 |
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| KENT, Ohio (AP) -- Keston Roberts had 22 points and eight rebounds and hit four free throws in the final minutes as Youngstown State beat Kent State 62-58 on Friday. Quin Humphrey had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Penguins (6-7), and Jack Liles added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Kent State (5-5) led by as much as 11 in the first half and was up 31-22 at halftime. Youngstown State started the second half with an 11-2 run to tie it at 33 before Kent State went on a 15-6 run to make it 48-39 with ten minutes remaining. Youngstown State answered with its own 15-6 run to tie it at 54 before pulling away for good. Omni Smith led Kent State with 15 points, and Mike Scott had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Julian Sullinger had 11 points for the Golden Flashes, who were 24-of-64 for 37.5 percent shooting. The Penguins were 23-of-53 for 43 percent shooting. |
| Youngstown St. 78, James Madison 58 |
| Wednesday, December 20 2006 |
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| HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) -- Keston Roberts led all scorers with 27, guiding Youngstown State over James Madison, 78-58, Tuesday night. The Penguins (5-7) were in front for all but the first three minutes. James Madison (2-7) narrowed Youngstown State's 10-point halftime lead to five with 17:51 left in the game. But the Penguins went on a 12-2 run to make it 57-42, putting the Dukes out of striking distance. Quin Humphrey scored 15 and had nine rebounds and John Barber scored 13 for Youngstown State. James Madison's Joe Posey scored 16, Juwann James had 13 and Pierre Curtis added 11. The Penguins outshot James Madison, 51.8 percent to 38.9 percent. |
| Comeback Comes Up One-Point Short in Loss at Robert Morris |
| Sunday, December 17 2006 |
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| Moon Township, Pa. -- Trialing by as many as 14 points in the second half, the YSU men's basketball team pulled within one, but never got over the hump losing 79-78 to Robert Morris at the Sewall Center on Saturday night. At the 3:16 mark, the Guins (4-7) cut the deficit to 71-70 after scoring six straight points. But the Colonials (6-3) scored the next five points to regain control and were able to hold on. Senior guard Quin Humphrey scored a game-high 25 points while Keston Roberts finished with 23. John Barber had his fourth career double-double and first of the season by scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Robert Morris was able to build a 48-37 halftime lead by shooting 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the field. In the first 20 minutes, YSU shot 48 percent and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. In the second half, the Penguins trailed 63-49 with 13:01 remaining before mounting their comeback bid. YSU scored six consecutive points to get within eight before a Jeremy Chappell putback pushed the lead back in double digits. The Guins battled back within six points before the Colonials went up 70-61 with 5:24 remaining. Youngstown State went on a 9-1 to finally get back within a point with just over three minutes remaining. But RMU answered with a Tony Lee three-point play and two A.J. Jackson free throws to go up six. YSU pulled within 77-74 when Humphrey made his first 3-pointer of the game. After two Tony Lee free throws, Jack Liles converted a foul shot and Roberts drilled a trey with 1.8 seconds left, but RMU inbounded the ball deep downcourt and time expired. Leading the way for Robert Morris was Lee who had a team-high 23 while Freddie Harris scored a career-high 16 points. The Penguins head back on the road to face James Madison on Tuesday before concluding a grueling four-game road stretch at Kent State on Friday night. |
| Keston Roberts Earns HL Player-of-the-Week Nod |
| Tuesday, December 12 2006 |
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| Indianapolis, Ind. -- Senior guard Keston Roberts (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was named the Horizon League's Men's Basketball Player of the Week following two 20-plus point performances in two Youngstown State wins last week. Roberts scored 21 points in YSU's first-ever Horizon League victory at UW-Milwaukee after posting 22 in a midweek 34-point win over Lock Haven. In the win over the Panthers, Roberts converted nine field goals, including two 3-pointers. He grabbed three rebounds and had two assists as the Guins won in Milwaukee for the first time since 1991. In the win over the Bald Eagles on Tuesday, Roberts again made nine field goals, two of which were treys. He also grabbed eight rebounds with two assists and one steal. After taking the middle of the week off for final exams, the Penguins return to action on Saturday night when they play at Robert Morris. |
| Penguins Hold on to Win at UW-Milwaukee, 68-65 |
| Monday, December 11 2006 |
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| Milwaukee, Wis. -- Youngstown State went on a late 6-0 run and held off a late UW-Milwaukee rally to escape with a 68-65 victory Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Arena. Both teams went on 12-0 runs in the second half, including the Panthers' run that put them up 61-60 with 3:02 to play. After Kevin Massiah's bucket put UWM up one, the Penguins held the Panthers scoreless for more than 2 1/2 minutes. Quin Humphrey hit a free throw to tie the score, and Keston Roberts hit a bucket to put YSU up 63-60. The Penguins struggled at the line late, and Massiah hit a free throw and a jumper with eight seconds remaining to make the score 66-64. After the Panthers forced back-to-back jump balls in inbounds passes, Paige Paulsen missed a potential game-tying free throw with 1.9 seconds remaining. He hit the first of two from the line, but Byron Davis grabbed the miss and hit two free throws with .4 seconds left. "I'm so proud of our guys for the effort we gave tonight," head coach Jerry Slocum said. "We've never given up on ourselves, even though we missed some free throws at the end. It was a day of perseverance for us." "To leave here and be 1-1 in the league in two tough road games, it just says a lot about our character and how hard we played tonight." The win was YSU's first in Milwaukee since Feb. 7, 1991. Roberts scored a game-high 21 points while Quin Humphrey scored 14 and Davis added 12. Paulsen led four Panthers in double figures with 16 points while Allan Hanson finished with 14 off the bench. UWM finished with just five turnovers, but YSU held the Panthers to a 33.8 percent effort from the floor. YSU made 51.7 percent of its shots in the second half 45.6 percent overall, and outrebounded the Panthers by 12 in the second half to claim a 45-43 edge. After Massiah hit a jumper at the 19:26 mark of the second half, YSU scored 12 straight points to go up 42-34. YSU went up by 13 on a John Barber bucket with 8:27 remaining before UWM's run. Roberts and Davis scored 10 points apiece for YSU in the first half as the Penguins went into the locker room down 32-30. The first half featured seven lead changes and four ties. YSU shot 39.3 percent and held UWM to 30.4 percent, but the Panthers held a 29-19 rebounding advantage and a 12-2 edge in second-chance points. YSU scored the first four points of the game before UWM scored the next five to go up 5-4 with 16:31 remaining. The Penguins led 19-15 on a Davis 3, but UWM went on a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the half at 24-19. The Penguins then scored the next six points to go up one on a Booth basket. The Penguins will break for the week for finals before playing at Robert Morris on Saturday at 7 p.m. |
| Flames Down Penguins 80-64 |
| Sunday, December 3 2006 |
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| Chicago -- UIC got off to a hot start from the floor and took a large first-half lead in a 80-64 win over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon at the UIC Pavilion. The Flames shot 66.7 percent in the first half and took a 44-23 lead at the half. YSU battled in the second half thanks to 16 points from Quin Humphrey in the final 20 minutes. UIC took its largest lead of the game at 57-35 with 13:52 remaining, but YSU got the margin down to 15 with a 3 by Keston Roberts with 6:32 remaining. That's as close as the Penguins would get. YSU hit only nine field goals in the second half, but they hit 20-of-24 free throws in the half, including 18 of its first 20. Humphrey finished with a game-high 18 points while Roberts finished with 14. Othyus Jeffers led three Flames in double figures with 16 points while Josh Mayo poured in 14 and dished out six assists. UIC scored the first nine points of the game and held an 18-3 lead on a Danijel Zoric basket with 14:14 remaining. Zoric finished with 11 first-half points off the bench, including 10 straight midway through. The Penguins will return home to play Lock Haven at 11:05 a.m. on Tuesday. |