| Davis' 22 Points, Second-Half Spurt Not Enough in Loss at UIC |
| Wednesday, March 5 2008 |
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| Chicago, Ill. – Once again the Youngstown State men’s basketball team put forth a strong second-half effort, however, it was a rough first half that proved to be too much to overcome in a 70-59 loss to UIC in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament on Tuesday night at the Pavilion. The Penguins (9-21) scored 38 second-half points, 17 more than they did in the first half. In the final two games of the year, YSU scored 35 points in the first 20 minutes and had 78 in the second. Senior Byron Davis scored a game-high 22 points to pace the Penguins on 9-of-22 shooting. Davis scored more than 1,000 points in his combined career at Youngstown State and New Mexico State. The Guins were behind 37-21 at halftime. YSU trailed by as many as 19 points with just over 16 minutes remaining and was down 54-36 at the 12:38 mark. But the Penguins turned up the defensive intensity and allowed UIC to score just three points until 3:26 was left in the game. YSU found some offense scoring 14 of 17 points to pull within 57-48 on a steal and breakaway dunk by Dwight Holmes with 3:56 left. From that point, UIC made 9-of-10 free throws in the final three-and-a-half minutes to keep a pesky Penguin team at bay. At one point in the final 74 seconds, John Barber converted two 3-pointers while Vance Cooksey added another getting YSU within eight points with 38 seconds to go. In their final games, Barber finished with 12 points and eight rebounds while Holmes had six points and three boards. For the contest, the Penguins shot 36.1 percent making 22-of-61 shots, including 8-of-26 from behind the 3-point arc. In the first half, YSU shot just 28.1 percent making nine field goals. UIC was 14-of-24 in the first half for a 58.3 percent effort before shooting just 34.6 percent (9-of-26) in the second stanza and 46 percent (23-of-50) for the game. The Flames made 19-of-24 free-throw attempts going 14-of-16 in the second half. Leading the way for UIC offensively was Robert Bush who scored 14 points to lead three players in double figures. The Flames advance to the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night against Loyola. That contest will be played a Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. |
| Men's Basketball Begins Horizon League Tournament Play At UIC |
| Tuesday, March 4 2008 |
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| The Youngstown State men’s basketball team begins play in the Horizon League Tournament on Tuesday against UIC. Tipoff for the first round contest at the UIC Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. Eastern time, 7 p.m. in Chicago. This is the second postseason meeting between the Penguins and Flames, but first in Chicago. UIC ousted the Guins from the 2003 event with a 79-59 victory in the quarterfinals at Milwaukee. The teams split this year’s regular-season series with the home team winning each game. YSU has never won at UIC in nine previous visits. |
| Vytas Sulskis Named to Horizon League's All-Newcomer Team |
| Monday, March 3 2008 |
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| Indianapolis, Ind. -- Youngstown State freshman guard Vytas Sulskis was named to the Horizon League's All-Newcomer squad the conference announced on Monday morning. Sulskis, a native of Vilnius, Lithuania, becomes the third Penguin to be named the the League's All-Newcomer squad. However he becomes the first freshman to be named all-newcomer since YSU joined the conference in 2001-02. For the season, Sulskis has scored 263 points, grabbed 126 rebounds, dished out 57 assists and has 30 steals. His points are the most by a freshman since Doug Underwood had 290 in 2001-02. Sulskis' 126 rebounds are the most by a YSU frosh since Jimmy Moore had 127 in 2001-02. His 45 3-pointers made, along with his 115 attempts have set a freshmen standard at YSU as well. In the Horizon League, he leads the conference among freshman in 3-point makes and attempts. In 18 league games he scored 192 points, averaging 10.7 per contest, while grabbing 89 rebounds, an average of 4.9 per game. He was second on the team in rebounds during conference play. Joining Sulskis on the All-Newcomer squad was Butler's Matt Howard, Cleveland State's Cedric Jackson, Milwaukee's Deonte Roberts and Green Bay's Rahmon Fletcher. Sulskis is the first Penguin freshman since Dave Brown in 1997-98 to be named to the all-newcomer team as a freshman. Brown was named the the all-newcomer squad in the Mid-Continent Conference. The Penguins return to action on Tuesday night when they travel to Chicago to face UIC in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. Tipoff at the UIC Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. Eastern time. |
| Barber Scores 1,000th Career Point in 65-58 Loss to CSU |
| Sunday, March 2 2008 |
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| Youngstown -- Senior John Barber scored his 1,000th career point on Senior Night but the Youngstown State men's basketball team lost to Cleveland State 65-58 at the Beeghly Center. Barber finished with his sixth double-double of year and 10th of his career scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He was one of four Penguins to finish in double figures. YSU opened the game strong scoring seven of the first nine points. However, the Vikings used a 15-4 run to grab a 22-11 lead with 7:11 remaining in the first half and owned a 28-18 advantage at halftime. Youngstown State made a run early in the second half after falling behind 33-21. The Guins scored 12 of the next 16 points to get within 37-33 with 13:04 remaining on a Byron Davis basket. CSU never let the Penguins get any closer until the final minute and led 61-52 with a minute remaining before things got interesting. Vance Cooksey scored on two layups and Dwight Holmes' rebound and putback pulled the Guins within 61-58 with 33 seconds remaining. Vytas Sulskis fouled J'Nathan Bullock on the inbounds pass and Bullock, who was 1-of-6 from the line, converted both tosses to make the score 63-58 with 32 seconds left. Cooksey missed an off-balance 3-pointer and Bullock grabbed the rebound to end any YSU comeback hopes. For the game, the Penguins shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) while the Vikings hit at a 51 percent clip (26-of-51). Besides Barber, Davis, Cooksey and Liles all added 10 in a losing effort. Leading the way for CSU was Bullock who finished 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson 10 points and 11 assists. The victory was big for Cleveland State (20-11 and 12-6), which garnered the second seed in the HL Tournament thanks to Valparaiso's overtime win at Wright State earlier in the day. The Penguins (9-20 and 5-13) return to action on Tuesday night in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. YSU is set to take on UIC/Milwaukee at 8 p.m. Eastern time. |