Slocum, Penguins happy to be home

The men's and women's teams will play Thursday night at Beeghly Center.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State men's basketball coach Jerry Slocum says that it's nice getting a chance to live here again.
For the past two months, Slocum and his basketball team have been living out of suitcases a lot as they have played nine of their first 14 games away from home.
Thursday, the Penguins open a four-game homestand, the longest by a YSU team since January 1999. YSU will play host to Horizon League leaders Wright State in a 7:35 tip-off at Beeghly Center.
The game will be the second of a doubleheader as the YSU women will entertain UW-Milwaukee in the opener at 5:15 p.m.
"Getting a chance to live in Youngstown again is a real treat," Slocum said. "Everybody is excited to be back at home.
"And playing the No.1 team in the conference is also very exciting for this basketball team," he said. "It's obvious that the players are excited to be home, since today [Tuesday] we had our best practice of the year.
Playing well at home
Playing at home and playing well is important to Slocum and the Penguins.
"You don't win conference championships is you don't take care of your home floor," he said. "You need to play exceptionally hard at home to be successful."
The Penguins bring a 5-9 record in to the contest, 2-2 in Horizon League play. The two losses were an 85-84 overtime loss at Illinois-Chicago and a 68-63 loss at Detroit last Saturday in which the Penguins blew a 14-point second-half lead.
Humphrey leads attack
The Penguins also have the Horizon League's top scorer in junior guard Quin Humphrey, who is averaging 21.1 points a game and 28.5 points a game in league play.
Monday, he was named the Horizon League's Player of the Week for the second time this season.
"It's not surprising the year Quin is having," Slocum said. "He has the best work ethic in our program. He's a kid who comes in every day not expecting something, but giving something."
Humphrey has had support this year as both junior Keston Roberts (14.9) and senior Domonique Crawford (11.1) are averaging in double figures.
But Humphrey's play has been outstanding. In the team's 14 games, the 6-foot-4-inch guard from Ellenwood, Ga., has been in double figures every game. He's been the top scorer in 10 of those games and the top rebounder in 11 and has led the team three times in assists.
He's had five double-double performances this year and three times has scored more than 30 points in a game. Those efforts came in successive games.
Raiders top Horizon
Wright State brings a 7-6 overall mark, 3-0 in the Horizon League and is on a three-game winning streak. But the Raiders are 1-5 on the road.
"Our kids are working hard," Slocum said. "We might not be the most talented team, but nobody works any harder than we do."
Slocum said that he was impressed when fans from both UIC and Loyola came up to him after the game and said they had never seen a Youngstown State team play with such emotion and competitiveness.
The Penguins will follow up Thursday's game with another contest on Saturday when they host Cleveland State also in the second game of a doubleheader at 7:35 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com