| Hot-Shooting Bulldogs Beat Penguins, 79-59 |
| Thursday, February 24 2005 |
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| Youngstown – A hot-shooting Butler team overcame the Penguins' Senior Night emotions beating Youngstown State 79-59 on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. The game was the final home contest for forwards Brian Radakovich and Khari McQueen and guard Billy Clapper. Radakovich scored a team-high 14 points, McQueen scored 10 and Clapper made his first career start on the night. The story of the night was Butler's shooting. The Bulldogs (12-14 overall and 6-9 in the Horizon League) scorched the nets for 59.2 percent overall (29-of-49) and 67.8 percent from 3-point range making 11-of-16 for the game. Butler was 6-of-7 from behind the arc in the first half. The Penguins (5-21, 2-13) shot 46.8 percent for the game and had four players score in double figures. Radakovich had a high of 14, Quin Humphrey had 11 and Derrick Harris and McQueen each had 10. Butler jumped out quickly building a 12-2 lead. However, the Penguins battled back to tie the score at 18 on John Barber basket. Butler scored seven straight points taking advantage of 3-pointers by Brandon Crone and A.J. Graves to pull in front 25-18. By halftime, the Bulldogs led 44-32. After the break, the Penguins were able to get within nine points twice early, but Butler eventually led by 18 at the 16:50 mark. Leading the way for Butler was Brandon Polk who scored a game and career-high-tying 24 points. Polk was 10-of-17 from the field for the contest. Bruce Horan finished with 13 points while Avery Sheets and Jamie Smalligan each had a dozen. YSU closes out the regular season on Saturday when it visits Detroit. Tipoff at Calihan Hall is set for 4:05 p.m. Youngstown State beat the Titans 59-55 at the Beeghly Center on Feb. 3. |
| Strong First Half Paces Penguins to 74-60 Victory Over Eastern Michigan |
| Saturday, February 19 2005 |
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| Youngstown -- Youngstown State jumped out to a 21-point lead in the first half and held off an Eastern Michigan rally attempt midway through the second half en route to a 74-60 victory on Saturday. YSU junior guard Derrick Harris was 7-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc to score a career-high 23 points and lead three Penguins in double figures. Khari McQueen had 11 while Brian Radakovich added 10. Eastern Michigan (12-13) led only once at 3-2 and forged a tie at 7-7, but from that point YSU went on a 30-9 run over the next 10 minutes to take a 37-16 lead with 6:28 to go. The Penguins (5-20) shot 51.9 percent in the first half, going 14-27 overall and 6-10 from behind the arc and held a 15-0 advantage in points off turnovers 11 1/2 minutes into the half. The Penguins forced five steals and had four blocks in the first half. YSU opened up a 21-10 advantage with 12:51 remaining on an Alex Sanchez 3 and and upped the lead to 26-12 on two Mike Adams free throws. EMU scored four straight to get the margin back to 10, but Harris his back-to-back 3s to start an 11-0 run to give the Penguins their 21-point lead. EMU didn't get closer than 16 the rest of the half, and a 3-point play by Jon Mends with 45 seconds left put the Penguins up 45-26 at the break. The Eagles scored the first seven points of the second half to get within 45-33 and cut the Penguin lead to single digits for the first time in 20 minutes when Darryl Garrett hit a 3 to make the score 50-41 at the 13:26 mark. YSU got the lead back to 13 when Mends made a layup with 9:49 to go, but EMU crept to within seven when Markus Anderson hit a 3 with 6:35 remaining. Back-to-back jumpers from Quin Humphrey and Mends put YSU back on top by 11 and the Eagles didn't get closer than 10 the rest of the way. The Penguins shot 48 percent overall (24-of-50) and 60 percent from behind the arc (9-of-15) while EMU shot 36.4 percent (16-of-44) and made 5-of-18 3-pointers. YSU will play its home game of the season on Wednesday against Butler at 7 p.m. |
| Second-Half Rally Comes Up Short Against Wright State, 71-64 |
| Wednesday, February 16 2005 |
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| Youngstown -- Youngstown State trimmed a 15-point second-half deficit down to three with a 15-3 run, but Wright State scored four straight points to go up seven and never looked back in a 71-64 victory on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. After Wright State's DaShaun Wood hit a 3 at the 8:28 mark to the give the Raiders their largest lead of the game at 52-47, YSU's 15-3 run led by two 3s from Quin Humphrey and one from Alex Sanchez made the score 60-57 with 4:07 to play. WSU's Drew Burleson then put back a miss for two of Wright State's 19 second-chance points and Wood hit a jumper to put the Raiders up seven at the 3:00 mark. YSU got within five twice before Wood sank five of six free throws down the stretch to put the Raiders up nine with 37 ticks left. Brian Radakovich hit a 3 with 32 seconds remaining to get the Guins within six, but YSU could not get any closer. Radakovich was eight for 10 from the floor and six for seven from the free throw line to finish with a career-high 24 points to lead all scorers. Humphrey had 18 points and Khari McQueen chipped in with 11. Burleson led the Raiders with 21 points while Wood finished with 19 points. Jordan Pleiman finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Wright State, which improved to 12-13 overall and 7-7 in the Horizon League. The Penguins shot an impressive 48.9 percent, including shooting at a 54.2 percent clip in the second half, but Wright State nearly matched them with a 45.8 percent effort. The Raiders outrebounded the Penguins 38-25. YSU jumped out to a 7-2 lead on a Radakovich 3 with 17:46 left in the first, but Wright State went on an 11-2 run and eventually took a 21-13 lead with 8:08 remaining. A Humphrey 3 at the 6:34 mark got the Guins within two at 23-21, but Wright State held a 34-27 lead at the break. The Penguins will play host to Eastern Michigan as part of ESPN's Bracket Buster on Saturday at 2 p.m. |
| Penguins Can't Stop League-Leader Milwaukee |
| Saturday, February 12 2005 |
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| Milwaukee, Wis. – The Youngstown State men’s basketball team kept things close for 13 minutes at UW-Milwaukee on Saturday night, then the Panthers doses of speed and scoring took over as they beat the Penguins 90-67 before a crowd of 6,455 at the U.S. Cellular Arena. YSU (4-19 overall and 2-11 in the Horizon League) went toe-to-toe with UWM trailing 26-25 at the 7:06 mark in an opening that featured seven leads changes and four ties. But the Panthers, who won for the 12th time in 13 games, scored six straight points and 13 of the next 15 to build a 39-27 lead on a dunk by Jason McCoy. At halftime, UWM pulled ahead 46-33. With the win, the Panthers (19-5 and 12-2) clinched at least a share of the league title while the Penguins have clinched the ninth seed in the league tournament which begins March 1. UWM earned at least a share of its second straight regular-season title with the win and a UW-Green Bay loss at Loyola earlier in the day. Quin Humphrey scored 16 points to lead YSU while Brian Radakovich had 13. Jon Mends contributed 11, all in the second half. Humphrey finished with eight rebounds. Joah Tucker had a game-high 18 points to lead four Panthers in double figures. Boo Davis had 17 while Chris Hill and Ed McCants each finished with 13. For the game, YSU outrebounded UWM 34-33. The Panthers shot better from the field making 51.6 percent (32-of-62) while YSU shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53). UWM made 10 3-pointers, while YSU had two, both by Humphrey. The Penguins play their next three games at the Beeghly Center. YSU returns to the hardwood on Wednesday night when they play host to Wright State. |
| Valiant Effort at UIC Falls Short by Six |
| Friday, February 11 2005 |
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| Chicago, Ill. – Quin Humphrey scored 18 points, including 16 in the second half, and the YSU men's basketball team almost overcame a 15-point deficit only to fall short 71-65 to Illinois-Chicago at the UIC Pavilion on Thursday night. Trailing 59-44 with 7:21 left, the Penguins (4-18 overall and 2-10 in the Horizon League) worked the deficit to a manageable 62-58 score with 2:02 remaining on a basket by John Barber. After UIC's Jovan Stefanov scored to push the lead back to six, YSU was able to creep within four one final time on a Humphrey layup. After that point, the Flames (11-10 and 6-5) made 7-of-8 free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the victory. The Penguins were able to keep things close in the first half thanks to point guard Jon Mends. Mends had 10 points in the opening stanza as the game was tied three times and the lead changed hands four times. The Flames took a 35-32 lead into halftime as Stefanov and Cedrick Banks each had eight points. Just under two minutes into the second half, YSU pulled with two at 37-35 on a Khari McQueen free throw, but that was as close as they could get the rest of the night. UIC went on a 12-2 run at the point to pull in front 47-35 with 14:21. YSU then closed within seven at 51-44 before the Flames scored eight straight points stretching the advantage to their biggest margin of the night at 59-44 with just over seven minutes remaining. The Penguins had four players finish in double figures. Besides Humphrey's 18, McQueen tied his career high with 15, Barber finished with 11 and Mends had 10 -- all in the first half. UIC had four players finish in double figures as well led by Elliott Poole's 18 points. Stefanov and Rocky Collum contributed 14 each while Banks finished with 13. For the game, YSU shot better from the field than the Flames (43.9 percent to 36.5 percent) and outrebounded UIC 41-39. The margin of defeat marked the closest the Penguins had ever been at the final buzzer at UIC. The previous low was 16 (85-69) in 2002. Youngstown State now heads north to play at league-leader UW-Milwaukee on Saturday night. Tipoff at U.S. Cellular Arena is set for 8 p.m. |
| Penguins Start Strong, Lose to UWGB 78-49 |
| Saturday, February 5 2005 |
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| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team shot out of the gate strong, but UW-Green Bay ended with a flurry as the Penguins lost 78-49 to the Phoenix on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. The Penguins (4-17 overall and 2-9 in the Horizon League) scored the first seven points of the game but UW-Green Bay (16-6 and 9-3) regrouped and after taking a 16-15 lead at the 7:38 mark of the first half never trailed again. With just over five minutes remaining in the first half and the game tied 19-19, UW-Green Bay scored the next 11 points culminating when Matt Rohde drained a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in the opening stanza. Quin Humphrey ended the run with a bucket in the final seconds of the half was Green Bay took a 30-21 lead into the break. In the second half, the Penguins chopped an 11-point deficit to six with 16:10 left on two Khari McQueen free throws. However, in the second half, the Phoenix outscored YSU 48-28. Matt Rohde scored a game-high 19 points to lead UWGB. He had plenty of company in the double figures department as five over players finished with double figures. Benito Flores had 14, Brandon Morris added 13 while Josh Lawrence, Javier Mendiburu and Tyler Koenig each contributed 10. Mendiburu was two assists shy of the a triple-double added 10 points and eight rebounds. Leading the way for YSU was Brian Radakovich who had 14 points. Humphrey was the only other Penguin in double figures finishing with 13. For the game, Youngstown State shot 32.8 percent (19-of-58) while the Phoenix shot 45.3 percent (29-of-64). UWGB was hot in the second half, making 56.7 percent (17-of-30). The Phoenix made nine 3-pointers to YSU's three. YSU returns to action on Thursday at UIC. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. |
| Barber, Mends Post Career Highs in 59-55 Win Over Detroit |
| Friday, February 4 2005 |
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| Youngstown -- Youngstown State used a late run to end the first half and fought off a late Detroit comeback with clutch free throws in a 59-55 victory over the Titans on Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center. John Barber scored a career-high 15 points off the bench and sank two critical free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining that increased YSU's lead to four. Jon Mends added a career-high 14 points for the Penguins, who snapped a 10-game losing streak and beat Detroit for the first time since Jan. 4, 1988. YSU improved to 4-16 overall and 2-8 in the Horizon League with the win while Detroit dropped to 8-12 and 5-5. After closing the first half with a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the contest, the Penguins never trailed and allowed the Titans to tie the score only once in the second half. Detroit tied the score at 25-25 at the 18:46 remaining, but YSU went on an 11-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 36-28 after two Barber free throws at the 14:31 mark. The Titans then got within three with a 5-0 run, but YSU answered with a 5-0 run of its own to keep the lead at eight with 11:20 remaining. Detroit got within four three times over the next six minutes before finally climbing to within three after a Brandon Cotton free throw with 4:34 on the clock. Cotton, who scored 12 straight points for the Titans in the final 5:15, then hit a layup with 2:01 remaining to cut the margin to one. After Quin Humphrey made one of two free throws, Cotton made the front end of two attempts from the charity stripe with 52 seconds remaining to bring UDM to within one. Mends then found Radakovich under the hoop for a layup and a foul with 34 seconds remaining to put the Penguins up 55-52. Ryvon Covile's dunk with eight seconds left brought the Titans to within two points at 57-55, but Barber's free throws sealed the win for the Penguins. Barber finished 4-of-7 from the floor - including 2-for-3 from behind the arc - and was 5-for-6 from the free throw line. The Penguins held Cotton, who came in averaging more than 17 points per game, to just five points in the first half and three in the second half before his 12-point run in the final minutes. Covile added 11 points for the Titans. After trailing the entire first half, the Penguins closed with a 9-0 run to turn an eight-point deficit at the 2:38 mark into a 24-23 lead at the break. Detroit hit six of its first 11 shots to go up 11-2 after an Ethan Shaw basket at the 14:40 mark. The Penguins cut the margin to 15-10 after a Jon Mends layup and a Brian Radakovich free throw. UDM got the lead back to eight after a jumper by Brandon Cotton with 4:40 remaining, but a John Barber hit a 3 on YSU's next possession to pull the Penguins back to within five. A Torvoris Baker jumper and a Chuck Bailey free throw with 2:38 left to put the Titans up eight for the fourth time of the half, but UDM was held scoreless for the rest of the half and the Penguins hit on their final four shots to pull ahead one at the break. Brian Radakovich hit a layup with 1:45 remaining and John Barber hit a 3 off of a Titan turnover to pull YSU to within three with 1:11 left. Jon Mends then hit a layup with 28 seconds remaining and Barber added a jumper just inside the 3-point arc at the buzzer to put YSU up 24-23. YSU will play host to UW-Green Bay on Saturday at noon in the Horizon League Game of the Week. In a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, fans who donate a non-perishable food item will be admitted for free. |