| Penguins Drop Home Finale, 56-46 |
| Sunday, February 29 2004 |
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| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball could not overcome a slow start suffering a 56-46 loss in its home finale at the Beeghly Center on Saturday night. Before a season-high crowd of 4,608, the Penguins (8-19 overall and 4-12 in the Horizon League) came out of the gates slow falling behind by 15 and could not battle back from the deficit. Detroit improves to 17-10 and 10-6 by winning for the eighth consecutive contest. The Titans scored the first 15 points of the game and forced nine Penguin turnovers in the first eight minutes. YSU's Brian Radakovich scored five straight points to cut margin to 10, but Detroit reeled off five straight points to take a 20-5 lead with 8:15 remaining in the opening half. UDM took a 19-point lead, its largest of the game, at the 2:18 mark on a free throw from Willie Wallace, but YSU closed out the half on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 14 (34-20) at the break. Detroit led 44-27 with 11:25 remaining in the second, but YSU went on a 9-0 run pulling within 44-36 on two Adam Baumann free throws. But the Titans answered back with 10 straight points to build a 54-38 advantage with 2:22 remaining to end the Penguin threat. No YSU players scored in double figures as TeJay Anderson, Brian Radakovich and Quin Humphrey each finished with nine. Elijah Warren scored a game-high 17 points while Wallace was the only other player to score in double figures with 11. For the game, the Penguins shot 30.8 percent (12-of-39) while the Titans shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46). YSU will be in action on Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse against Butler in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. The Penguins lost 81-76 to the Bulldogs on Wednesday night. |
| Underwood Scores 28 in Five-Point Loss at Butler |
| Thursday, February 26 2004 |
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| Indianapolis, Ind. -- Junior Doug Underwood scored 28 points and helped bring the Youngstown State men's basketball team back from a 12-point deficit to within three, but Butler was able to hang on for an 81-76 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. Underwood, who finished one point shy of his career high, made three 3-pointers in the final 1:14, including a trey with 8.6 seconds remaining that closed the Penguins within 77-74. Butler's Bruce Horan made two free throws with 7.8 seconds left to seal the victory. Mike Monserez tied Underwood for game-high scoring honors with 28 points on his senior night. Following the defeat, Youngstown State drops to 8-18 overall and 4-11 in the Horizon League. Butler improves to 14-12 and 8-7 moving a half-game behind Detroit in the league standings in a battle for fifth place. In the first half, YSU took a 13-12 advantage, its lone lead of the game, on a Underwood basket. Horan answered with a 3-pointer putting the Bulldogs in front 15-13 and they never trailed after that point. BU reeled off nine straight points to boost its advantage up to 21-13. By halftime, Butler held a 36-30 advantage behind 13 by Monserez. To open the second half, Monserez scored four quick points to increase the lead to 10 before YSU scored eight straight points, including six by Adam Baumann. Leading 40-38, Butler went on a spurt scoring 15 of the next 20 points to bump its advantage up to 55-43. The Bulldogs moved the lead back up to 12 on three more occasions before eventuall leading 67-55. YSU fought back and pulled within 71-66 with 1:14 remaining on a 3-pointer by Underwood. After two Duane Lightfoot free throws, Underwood drained another three getting the Penguins to 73-69 with 25.6 ticks left. Butler was able to maintain a 77-71 advantage before Underwood three with 8.6 seconds left cut the deficit to three. Horan made two free throws pushing the advantage back to five at 79-74. Jonathan Mends made a layup before Monserez drained two free throws with 1.5 seconds left for the final margin. "We played really well and did exactly what we wanted to do defensively," Head Coach John Robic said. "We fought back at the end and it was very reminiscent of last year's game here." Joining Monserez in double figures for the Bulldogs was fellow senior Lightfoot who had 16. Combined, the two finished with 44 points. Baumann scored 17 points and Quin Humphrey scored 15 to help lead the Penguin comeback bid. The Penguins close out the regular season on Saturday night when they play host to Detroit at 7:35. The game is the final home contest for seniors TeJay Anderson, Adam Baumann and Bill Mallernee. |
| Falcons Beat Penguins, 76-64 |
| Saturday, February 21 2004 |
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| Bowling Green, Ohio -- Bowling Green came out hot making four consecutive 3-pointers to open the game, which proved to be the difference, as the Youngstown State men's basketball team suffered a 76-64 defeat as part of Bracket Buster Saturday at Anderson Arena. BGSU's John Reimold drilled three treys to open the game before finishing the contest with a game-high 26 points. With the loss, the Penguins fall to 8-17 on the season while the Falcons improve to 12-13. The Falcons came out on fire in the first half making their first four shots of the game -- all from behind the 3-point line. Reimold made three 3-pointers to start the game and finished with 14 in the opening stanza. After surviving Bowling Green's opening flurry, the Penguins kept fighting to get back in the game. YSU moved within five at 16-11 at the 12:37 mark but could get no closer the remainder of the half. The Falcons ended the first half by making three straight 3-pointers. In the opening stanza, BGSU made 10 3-pointers while converting just three two-point buckets. The Falcons were 10-of-13 from behind the 3-point line (76.9 percent) while YSU was just 1-of-4. Head Coach John Robic said it was had to overcome the deficit, although his team tied BGSU 64-64 the rest of the game. "When the other team goes 10-of-13 from behind the 3-point line in the first half, you're in trouble," Robic said. "They outscored us by 27 points from behind the 3-point line for the entire game. We lead our league in 3-point percentage defense, but to go 10-of-13 is semiunconscious." Despite the quick start, the Penguins hung tough in the second half. YSU cut the deficit to 61-51 on an Adam Baumann layup, but that was as close as Youngstown State could get. Khari McQueen led YSU with 11 points while Baumann and Doug Underwood had 10 apiece. For the game, the Penguins shot 37 percent (20-of-54) while BGSU was 47.9 percent (23-of-48). The Falcons made 10 treys in the first half, but did not make a 3-pointer in the second half. "We didn't stop playing," Robic said. "Even though the held us at bay, it seemed like we could get back in the game." The Penguins return to Horizon League on Wednesday playing at Butler. The Bulldogs pulled out a 64-63 overtime Brack Buster squeaker over Ohio earlier in the day. |
| Penguins Fall to Wright State; Clinch Seventh Seed |
| Friday, February 20 2004 |
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| Fairborn, Ohio -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team suffered an 81-61 loss at Wright State on Thursday night at the Nutter Center. With the defeat, YSU will be the seventh-seed in the Horizon League Tournament, which begins on March 2. The Penguins (8-16 overall and 4-10 in the Horizon League) were led by Khari McQueen who scored a team-high 13 points. Wright State, which improved to 14-11 and 10-4, moving into a three-way tie for second in the league, was led by Vernard Hollins who scored a game-high 24 points on Senior Night. For much of the first half, YSU kept things close trailing 17-16 with 9:58 left. But the Raiders scored nine straight points to extend the lead to 26-16. WSU led 39-22 with 1:36 left before the half and 39-25 at the break. In the second half, Wright State shot 56.5 percent from the field (10-of-13) and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free-throw line to keep YSU at bay. For the game, YSU shot 37.5 percent (24-of-64) while the Raiders shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53). WSU had an advantage at the free-throw line making 24-of-29 attempts while YSU was just 9-of-14. Brian Radakovich added nine points for the Penguins while Adam Baumann had a team-high eight rebounds. DaShaun Wood added 19 points while Seth Doliboa had 11 points and was one of three Raiders with seven rebounds. Loyola will be the league tournament's eighth seed followed by Cleveland State who is the No. 9 team. Things remain jumbled at the top of the standings with UW-Milwaukee in first, but Wright State, UW-Green Bay and UIC are all tied for second at 10-4. YSU returns to action on Saturday afternoon at Bowling Green as part of the ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday. Tipoff at Anderson Arena is set for 3:30 p.m. Eight of nine Horizon League teams will be in action against non-league opponents throughout the day. |
| Doug Underwood Named Player of the Week |
| Monday, February 16 2004 |
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| Indianapolis, Ind. -- Youngstown State junior guard Doug Underwood was named the Horizon League's Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday. Underwood averaged 20 points as the Penguins knocked off first-place UW-Milwaukee on Saturday and dropped a narrow four-point decision to UIC on Thursday. Against the Panthers on Saturday, Underwood went off for 26 points while making six 3-pointers. He also tied his season high with four assists. In two games against UWM this year, he has scored 55 points. On Thursday against UIC, he came off the bench in the second half scoring 14 points and almost led the Penguins to a come-from-behind win over the Flames. For the week, he was 12-of-22 from the field, while going 10-of-15 from behind the 3-point line, and was 6-of-7 from the foul line. He is the first YSU men's basketball player to be named player of the week since the program entered the league three years ago. |
| Penguins Upset League-Leading Panthers, 85-84 |
| Saturday, February 14 2004 |
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| Youngstown -- Doug Underwood scored 26 points and TeJay Anderson had 19, all in the second half, to lead the Youngstown State men's basketball team over league-leader UW-Milwaukee 85-84 in a Horizon League bout on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center. Two Adam Baumann free throws put the Penguins up by three with 6.2 seconds remaining, but UW-Milwaukee had one last chance to send the game into overtime. Kalombo Kadima got a shot a desperation shot off with 0.4 seconds left, but his foot was on the line and the Panthers came up one-point short. "What a great game," head coach John Robic said. "It's one of the biggest wins since I've been here." The win marked YSU's first victory over the Panthers in six tries since the Penguins joined the Horizon League in the 2001-02 season. It also spoiled UWM's chance to clinch at least a share of the Horizon League regular-season crown. YSU improved its record to 8-15 overall and 4-9 in the Horizon League while UWM falls to 17-7 and 12-2. The Panthers held YSU without a field goal for the final 4:05 of the game, but the Penguins scored their final seven points from the charity stripe. Anderson was 9-of-11 from the line and Underwood was 4-for-4. YSU held an 83-78 lead with 1:53 remaining after a free throw from Khari McQueen, but Chris Hill hit four straight free throws to get the Panthers within one at 83-82. McQueen missed two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to give UWM a chance for the final shot, but Hill was called on a charging violation to set up Baumann's last-second free throws. Baumann finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds and was 3-of-4 from the line as the Penguins shot 71.9 percent (23-of-32) overall from the line. UWM outscored YSU 44-28 in the paint and held the rebounding advantage 37-34. YSU held a slight shooting advantage with a 47.4 percent to 46.9 percent margin. Dylan Page led four Panthers in double figures with 17 points while Hill added 16, Joah Tucker had 13 and Ed McCants chipped in with 12. Hill was 12-for-12 from the free throw line. The Panthers led 52-47 with 17:28 remaining, but YSU went on a 7-2 run to knot the score at 54 on two free throws from Anderson. After the teams traded baskets, UWM scored six unanswered points to take a 62-56 lead at the 11:14 mark. The Penguins chipped away and tied the contest at 72 with 6:31 remaining and took their first lead of the half at the 4:05 mark on a jumper by Anderson. Tucker hit a layup to tie the score at 74 with 3:47 remaining, but YSU reeled off five straight points, all from the free throw line, to take a five-point lead with 1:53 remaining to set up the final sequence. The first half featured 15 lead changes and 10 ties, but the Panthers held a 46-43 advantage at the break. YSU held the first-half rebounding advantage 21-17, which led to 16 second-chance points, but the Panther bench outscored YSU's 18-2. Underwood scored 18 points in the opening period, including his the 1,000th point of his career on a free throw with 29.5 seconds remaining. Baumann nearly had his double-double in the first half with nine points and nine rebounds. The Penguins jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Underwood's first of five 3-pointers in the half and held a 14-10 advantage after five straight points from Underwood with 14:58 remaining. UW-Milwaukee took the lead for the first time in nearly six minutes when Page hit a free throw to give the Panthers a 21-20 lead with 10:01 remaining. The Panthers led by three twice before YSU reclaimed the lead at 26-25 on back-to-back jumpers from Quin Humphrey and Jonathan Mends. The Penguins went up by three on another 3-pointer from Underwood at the 4:48 mark, but the Panthers went on a 6-0 run to take a 39-36 lead with 2:43 remaining. YSU scored four straight points to take a 40-39 lead, but UWM went on a 5-0 run to take its largest lead of the half at 44-40. Three straight free throws got the Penguins within one, but Hill put the Panthers up 46-43 on a layup with 5 seconds remaining. The Penguins will travel to Wright State on Thursday to take on the Raiders at 7:05 p.m. |
| Banks Scores 23 to Lead UIC Over YSU, 62-58 |
| Friday, February 13 2004 |
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| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team rallied from an early nine-point deficit and eventually held a two-point lead midway through the second half, but the Penguins could not hold on as they fell to the Illinois-Chicago Flames 62-58 on Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center. Cedrick Banks paced the Flames with a game high 23 points while Martell Bailey dished out eight assists. Doug Underwood led the Penguins with 14 points, all of which came in the second half, while TeJay Anderson finished with 13. YSU scored the first six points of the second half to get within one of UIC at 25-24 and kept the deficit to four before Underwood scored five straight points to give the Penguins their first lead of the contest at 35-34 with 13:39 remaining in regulation. UIC reclaimed the lead after two free throws from Banks, but Underwood hit a 3 to give YSU a 38-36 lead at the 12:43 mark. The Flames, however, countered with a 6-0 run to take a 42-38 lead with 10:17 remaining and did not relinquish the advantage for the rest of the contest. The Penguins got within one at 44-43 after another Underwood 3 with 8:43 remaining, but UIC answered with five straight points to take a six-point lead. The Flames matched their largest lead of the game with 1:13 remaining on a bucket by Elliott Poole, but YSU rallied in the final minute to get within two with 8.7 ticks left. Banks hit two more of his eight free throws on the night with 5.1 seconds remaining for the final tally. The Flames scored the opening seven points of the game and held an 11-2 lead at the 15:34 mark of the first half on a layup from Joe Scott. Trailing 15-6 with 9:46 remaining, YSU went on an 8-0 run to make the score 15-14 on a 3-pointer from Derrick Harris. UIC, however, closed out the half on a 10-4 run to extend its lead to 25-18 at the break. The Penguins shot 50 percent from the floor and 46 percent from behind the 3-point arc, but were just 9-for-20 from the free throw line. UIC shot 45 percent and outrebounded the Penguins 33-30. YSU will play host to UW-Milwaukee on Saturday at 2 p.m. |
| UW-Green Bay Prevails in Overtime, 73-70 |
| Sunday, February 8 2004 |
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| Youngstown -- The UW-Green Bay Phoenix overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to force overtime and outscored Youngstown State 15-12 in the extra period en route to a 73-70 win on Saturday evening at Beeghly Center. Trailing 57-50 with 2:38 remaining, the Phoenix scored six unanswered points to get within one after two free throws from Brandon Morris with 19.2 seconds remaining. Adam Baumann hit one-of-two free throws to up the Penguin advantage to 58-56, but Tyler Koenig hit a layup with 5.9 seconds left to push the game into overtime. Baumann finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Penguins (7-14, 3-8 Horizon League) while Mike Woodard chipped in with 12. Javier Mendiburu finished with 19 points to lead the Phoenix (15-7, 9-3) while Matt Rohde finished with 13 and Morris had 12. The Penguins led only once in the extra stanza after Brian Radakovich hit a 3 at the 4:22 mark to put YSU up 61-60. From that point, the Phoenix scored seven straight as part of a 9-1 run that put UW-Green Bay up 69-62 with 1:27 remaining. YSU got within one after Derrick Harris hit a layup with 16.1 seconds remaining, but Mendiburu hit two of his 12 free throws on the night to put the Phoenix back up three. The Penguins had a final chance, but Radakovich's desperation 3-point attempt fell short. YSU held a slight advantage in shooting percentage (40.7 percent to 40 percent) but the Phoenix held the rebounding advantage 42-38. YSU shot 60.7 percent from the free throw line. The Penguins jumped out to an 8-4 lead on a layup from Woodard, but the Phoenix scored six straight to take their first lead of the game at 10-8 with 15:23 remaining. The Penguins immediately reclaimed the lead on a 3-pointer from Doug Underwood and did not relinquish it until UW-Green Bay went on a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 25-20 with 7:23 remaining. YSU countered with a 6-0 run of their own to take a 26-25 lead after two free throws from Woodard. King hit a jumper to give the Phoenix a 29-28 lead at the 2:08 mark, but YSU reclaimed the lead on Baumann jumper and held the upper-hand until Koenig's layup. UW-Green Bay knotted the score at 32 with 42 seconds remaining in the first half, but Baumann hit a layup with eight ticks remaining to put YSU on top 34-32 at the end of the first stanza. In the second half, Woodard put YSU up 39-34 with 17:34 remaining, but Tyler Koenig hit a jumper with 17:14 remaining to keep the Phoenix within three. The Penguins did not allow another Phoenix field goal for over 10 minutes. Khari McQueen hit a free throw with 11:50 remaining to give the Penguins a 44-36 lead, but Mendiburu hit four straight free throws to get the Phoenix within four. Harris hit a 3-pointer to put the Penguins up nine with 4:13 remaining in regulation, but the Phoenix offense ended its drought and made their late run that pushed the game into overtime. The Penguins will play host to Illinois-Chicago on Thursday at 7 p.m. |
| Twymann's Big Night Too Much For YSU |
| Friday, February 6 2004 |
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| Detroit, Mich. -- Detroit's Jimmy Twymann scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Titans to a 64-43 over the Youngstown State men's basketball team on Thursday night at Calihan Hall. The Penguins (7-13 overall and 3-7 in the Horizon League) shot just 31.3 percent (15-of-48) from the field for the contest as the loss snapped their three-game losing streak. The Titans (10-10 and 4-6) snapped a three-game losing skid with the 21-point victory. In the process, UDM moved a game ahead of the Penguins in the Horizon League standings. In the first half, Twymann carried the Titans by scoring 19 points -- one shy of his season-high. Twymann was on fire hitting 7-of-10 shots, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. For the game, he was 9-of-14 while going 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Youngstown State kept things close in the first half trailing 21-20 with 8:27 left. But the Titans scored nine straight points, all 3-pointers by Twymann to go in front by 10. YSU pulled within 30-25 with 3:25 left with two Mike Woodard free throws, but Detroit ended the half by scoring the final six points to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room. In the second half, YSU made just 6-of-24 shots (25 percent) and could never get back in the game. Detroit kept its run going by scoring the first six points of the stanza to increase its lead to 42-25 on a Ryvon Covile bucket with 16:28 left. The Penguins pulled within nine on two occasions at 42-33 and 44-35, but that was as close as they could get. Khari McQueen tallied a team-high 11 points, nine of which came in the first half. The Penguins return to action in Youngstown on Saturday to begin a three-game homestand. YSU plays host to UW-Green Bay at 7:35 p.m. following the Youngstown State-Loyola women's contest that tips off at 5:15 p.m. |
| Penguins to Play Bowling Green in Bracket Buster |
| Monday, February 2 2004 |
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| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team will play at Bowling Green in Anderson Arena on Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m. as part of ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday. The Penguins are one of eight Horizon League schools who are taking part in the matchup event. The Penguins have not played the Falcons since the Jan. 15, 1992, a 65-45 Bowling Green victory at the Beeghly Center. This is YSU's first visit to BGSU since Feb. 13, 1991, when it suffered a 97-76 setback to the Falcons. Bowling Green owns a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series. YSU's game against the Falcons will follow the Bowling Green-Kent State women's basketball which tips at 1 p.m. earlier that day. The game will come at good time for Youngstown State, as far as travel is concerned. YSU plays just down the road from Bowling Green on Thursday, Feb. 19, at Wright State. As part of the package, the Falcons will play in Youngstown next season. Horizon League Matchups |