| Strong Second-Half Effort Lifts Penguins Past SRU, 77-63 |
| Sunday, December 30 2007 |
| Courtesy of: |
| The Youngstown State men's basketball team used a solid second-half effort to hold off a pesky Slippery Rock squad 77-63 on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. Bryon Davis scored 15 points, John Barber had 13 and Vytas Sulskis finished with 12 to pace the Penguins. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Guins. After the game was tied 38-38 at halftime, Youngstown State scored the first nine points of the second half and was never threatened the rest of the afternoon. Dan Boudler's basket gave the Penguins a 52-42 lead with 12:22 remaining and The Rock was not able to get the deficit under double figures the remainder of the game. In the second half, Slippery Rock shot just 25.8 percent making 8-of-31 opportunities after a connecting on 48.4 percent (15-31) in the opening stanza. Although YSU shot just 30.3 percent (10-of-33) from the field in the second half, it connected on 17-of-22 free-throw attempts, including a stretch of going 11-for-12 in the final three minutes. For the game, the Penguins (4-7) converted 39.1 percent of their opportunities from the field (25-of-64) while Slippery Rock shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62). The Guins were strong at the free-throw line making 24-of-30 attempts while the Rock made just 12-of-23. Also for YSU, junior guard Mikko Niemi finished with six points, a career-high seven assists and five rebounds in a winning effort. Boudler and Jack Liles each scored eight points in a winning effort. Leading the way for Slippery Rock was Ken Ottrix who scored a game-high 18 points. SRU had four players finish in double figures. The win was YSU's 11th straight over The Rock. The Penguins begin a key Horizon League stretch playing three games in five days beginning on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. YSU entertains UIC with the tipoff set for 7:35 p.m. |
| Slow Start Dooms Penguins to 79-59 Loss at Akron |
| Saturday, December 22 2007 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Akron, Ohio -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team got off to a slow start and had a second-half rally fizzle as it dropped a 79-59 decision to Akron on Friday evening at the James A. Rhodes Arena. YSU trailed by as many as 28 in the first half but steadily trimmed the deficit to 10 early in the second half thanks to a 14-4 run to start the stanza. Akron led 50-30 with 17:32 remaining, but YSU scored the next 10 points to make the score 50-40 on a Jack Liles layup. After a timeout the Zips scored four straight to go up 14, and YSU got within 11 three different times before Akron began to pull away. Byron Davis hit a trey with 6:46 remaining to make the score 64-52, but a 13-2 Akron run gave the Zips a 77-54 lead with 1:41 left. Liles finished with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds while Davis added 14 and John Barber had 12. Cedrick Middleton had 16 to lead Akron. The game featured 76 free throws as Akron went 35-of-43 and YSU went 22-of-33. Akron outshot the Penguins 54 percent to 30 percent in the first half en route to its big lead but tailed off to a 33 percent effort in the second half. The Zips went on a 21-4 run in the first half and scored 19 points off of YSU's 14 turnovers to take a 46-26 lead at the break. Middleton had 11 and Jeremiah Wood had nine in the first 20 minutes for Akron. The Zips also struggled to maintain possession by committing 12 turnovers in the first half, but they held an 11-3 advantage in assists and went 15-of-19 from the free throw line. The Penguins will return home to take on Slippery Rock on Dec. 29 at 2:05 p.m. |
| Guins Feverish Second-Half Comeback Falls Short Against Robert Morris, 74-71 |
| Tuesday, December 18 2007 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team (3-6) erased an 18-point second-half deficit down to two but could not get over the hump as Robert Morris (6-4) escaped with a 74-71 win over the Penguins on Monday evening at the Beeghly Center. Senior Byron Davis led five Penguins scoring in double figures with a career-best 20 point while freshman Vytus Sulskis posted a career-high 13 points. Junior Jack Liles scored 12 points and freshman Vance Cooksey and senior Dwight Holmes each added 11 points. The Penguins trailed by as many as 18 points, 66-48, midway through the second half but used an 18-3 run over the next five minutes to get within three, 69-66. Holmes' jumper at the 7:32 mark got the Guins, who shot 50 percent in the second half, within 10, 69-59. A lay up by Cooksey and a three-point by Davis sliced the deficit to three, 69-66, with 5:13 remaining. The Colonials, who managed just two field goals over the last 10 minutes, converted two free throws to extend their lead back to four but Davis answered with a jumper with 2:30 remaining. Cooksey made two charity tosses after a bucket by RMU made it 72-70 at the two minute mark. YSU missed three of it last four free throw attempts and RMU's A.J. Jackson sealed the victory with a free throw with second seconds remaining. Robert Morris shot an impressive 58.3 percent (14-for-24) in the first half, including six 3-pointers, compared to 36.4 (12-of-33) percent for the Penguins. YSU, however, took nine more field goal attempts to trail by just seven, 38-31, at the break. The Colonials jumped out early on the Penguins making eight of their first 10 shots, including two 3-pointers, for an 18-10 advantage at the first media timeout at 14:56. Byron Davis' lay up and a free throw by John Barber brought the Guins within five, 18-13, but 3-pointers by Jimmy Langhurst and Bateko Francisco and another by Langhurst ballooned the Colonials lead to 14, 27-13, midway through the first half. Sulski drained a 3-pointer to capped a quick 6-0 YSU run to cut the deficit back to eight points, 27-19, but Langhurst hit his third 3-pointer of the half to regain an 11-point RMU edge, 30-19, at the 8:19 mark. A dunk by Davis brought the Guins back within nine, 30-21, but Sulskis was flagged with a technical foul and Langhurst two charity tosses put RMU back ahead 11, 32-21, with 6:32 remaining. The Penguins scored 10 of the next 16 points over the next six minutes, incluidng a lay up by Liles and jumpers by Davis and Holmes, to slice the Colonials lead down to seven, 38-31, at the intermission. YSU is back on the road on Friday when it visits Akron at 8 p.m. The contest is a doubleheader as the Penguin women take on the Zips prior to the men’s game. |
| Barber Scores 18 in Penguins' 77-54 Loss at Cleveland State |
| Sunday, December 9 2007 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Cleveland, Ohio -- Senior forward John Barber scored 18 points, but the Youngstown State men's basketball team's shooting woes continued in a 77-54 loss at Cleveland State on Saturday night at the Wolstein Center in the Horizon League opener for both schools. While the Penguins (3-5 overall and 0-1 in the Horizon League) shot 35.9 percent making 19-of-53 attempts, the Vikings (7-3 and 1-0) shot a scorching 64.6 percent making 31-of-48 attempts. CSU shot 60.7 percent in the first half and improved to 70 percent in the second half. Junior forward Jack Liles was the only other Penguin to reach double figures finishing with 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Leading the way for the Vikings offensively was junior guard Cedric Johnson who scored a game-high 21 points. George Tandy added 14 points for CSU as nine players reached the scoring column. Cleveland State won the battle of the boards 32-23. In the first half, YSU made nine field goals while CSU made 17, including five 3-pointers. The Penguins shot 34.6 percent in the opening stanza while CSU made 17-of-28 attempts, 60.7 percent. The Vikings scored the first four points and never trailed in the contest. Leading 6-3, CSU used a 15-6 run to grab a 21-9 lead with 9:17 remaining in the opening half. From that point, YSU was able to get within 10 points on three occasions in the first half. By halftime, CSU had built a 44-24 advantage. The Penguins return to action on Monday, Dec. 17 when they play host to Robert Morris. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center. |
| Second-Half Rally Falls Short in 59-52 Loss to Kent State |
| Thursday, December 6 2007 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team cut an 18-point second-half deficit to three, but could not get any closer suffering a 59-52 loss to Kent State on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. Vance Cooksey's free throws made the score 55-52 with 38 seconds left, but the Golden Flashes scored the final four points to hold on for the win. The Penguins (3-4) trailed 36-18 at halftime after shooting just 27.6 percent. Conversely, Kent State (7-2) scorched the nets for 61.5 percent making 16-of-26 shots, including 14-of-18 from two-point range. After KSU went in front 38-20, YSU scored 12 of the next 13 points to pull within 39-32 with 8:33 remaining in the game. Kent State appeared to regain control holding a 51-40 advantage with 3:54 left, but the Guins trimmed the deficit to 53-48 when Mel Johnson converted a layup with 1:35 remaining. Kent State's Al Fisher answered with a driving jumper in the lane to extend the lead to 55-48. However, the Guins scored four straight points on two free throws by John Barber and two by Cooksey. But Fisher struck again with a basket with 24 seconds left before adding two free throws with 11 seconds following a missed Johnson 3-point attempt to seal the outcome. Barber and Byron Davis led the Penguins with 14 points. Barber also grabbed seven rebounds. Johnson finished with eight points and a career-high eight rebounds off the bench. For KSU, Fisher had 16 and Haminn Quaintance had 12. YSU won the battle of the boards 34-32, but shot just 32.1 percent from the field for the game making 17-of-53 attempts. Kent State was 23-of-50 for 46 percent. The Penguins open Horizon League play on Saturday when they visit Cleveland State. Tipoff at the Wolstein Center is set for 5 p.m. |
| Kent State 59, Youngstown State 52 |
| Thursday, December 6 2007 |
| Courtesy of: AP |
| YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) -- Al Fisher scored 16 points and Haminn Quaintance added 12 as Kent State rode an 18-6 first-half run and held on to defeat Youngstown State 59-52 Wednesday night. Mike McKee's 3-pointer with 1:49 left in the first half gave the Golden Flashes (7-2) a 36-18 they carried into the intermission. Vance Cooksey hit a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left in the game to pull the Penguins (3-4) to 55-52, but they got no closer. John Barber led Youngstown State and Byron Davis led Youngstown State with 14 points apiece, while Jack Liles added 10. |
| Penguins Can’t Overcome Shooting Woes in 61-50 Loss |
| Sunday, December 2 2007 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Richmond, Ky. – The Youngstown State men’s basketball team shot a season-low 36.4 percent, 18.8 percent from behind the 3-point line and 50 percent from the free-throw line suffering a 61-50 loss to Eastern Kentucky at McBrayer Arena on Saturday night. YSU (3-3) made 20-of-55 shots, including 3-of-16 from behind the 3-point arc, in the defeat to the Colonels (3-4). From the line, the Guins were 7-of-14. The Penguins were led by junior forward Jack Liles who had a game-high 18 points and finished with 10 rebounds. All 18 of Liles’ career-high-tying points came in the second half. Despite shooting just 30.4 percent in the first half, YSU was within striking distance trailing only 29-19 at halftime. In the second half, the Guins cut the deficit to five twice – 31-26 and 39-34 – but each time the Colonels answered with momentum-breaking 3-pointers. EKU built its biggest lead of the night at 54-39 with six minutes remaining. The Guins were able to get within 58-48 on a Liles basket with 2:22 left, but that was as close as they could get in the second half. The Colonels scored the game’s first six points and never trailed. After the initial flurry, the closest YSU could get was four points on two occasions in the first half. EKU had four players finish in double figures with Darnell Dialls scoring a team-high 17 points. Mike Rose had 12 and Jamaal Douglas and Adam Leonard each finished with 10. Eastern Kentucky shot 48 percent for the game making 24-of-50 attempts. EKU won the battle of the boards 35-33. Liles also scored 18 points in last February’s contest versus Eastern. Senior forward John Barber was the only other Penguin to score double figures finishing with 11. Senior guard Byron Davis, who had scored in double figures the first five games, was held to eight, but had a season-best six assists. YSU returns home for just the second time this season on Wednesday night when it plays host to Kent State. Tipoff is set for 7:35 p.m. following the women’s game versus Central Michigan. |
| Eastern Kentucky 61, Youngstown State 50 |
| Sunday, December 2 2007 |
| Courtesy of: AP |
| RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) -- Darnell Dialls scored 17 points to lead Eastern Kentucky to a 61-50 win over Youngstown State on Saturday. The Colonels (3-4) never trailed and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Penguins fell to 3-3. Dialls scored 12 in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and led four Eastern players in double figures. Mike Rose followed Dialls with 12 points and Adam Leonard and Jamaal Douglas added 10 points each. The Colonels held a 39-34 lead with 14 minutes left and went on a 10-2 run to push the margin to 52-38. Jack Liles didn't score in the first half, but led the Penguins with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Liles scored 10 of Youngtown State's first 13 points of the second half that trimmed a 29-19 halftime deficit to 38-32 with 15:34 remaining. John Barber followed Liles with 11 points. |