Penguins struggle in defeat

Cleveland State handed YSU its third straight loss.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team had one of its most disappointing performances of the season Saturday night.
The Penguins didn't play well in any aspects of the game and the results were a 63-50 defeat at the hands of Cleveland State before a crowd of 4,305 at Beeghly Center.
"It was very disappointing tonight," said YSU head coach Jerry Slocum. "It was a total breakdown, we didn't play well in any phase of the game."
The loss was the third straight for the Penguins, who fell to 5-11 on the year and 2-4 in the Horizon League. Cleveland State won its second straight conference game to improve to 6-8, 2-3 Horizon.
YSU junior guard Quin Humphrey had his streak of 15 straight games of scoring in double figures snapped against the Vikings as he finished with just nine points.
Junior Keston Roberts led the Penguins and was the only player in double figures with 13 points. Humphrey did finish with 11 rebounds.
YSU, which trailed the entire first half and was behind 29-25 at intermission, battled back over the first four minutes of the second half to take its only lead of the contest, 32-31, on a basket by junior Dwight Holmes following five points by sophomore Colin LaForme with 16:21.
But then the Vikings went on a 16-2 rampage and pulled to a 47-34 lead. The Penguins only got to within 10 points one other time the rest of the game.
"We had seven straight possessions where we didn't score and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if you don't score you're not going to win," added Slocum.
Pulling away
After YSU crept back to within nine points 49-41 with 9:24 left, Cleveland State then went on a 10-0 run to pull to its biggest lead of the game, 59-43.
The Penguins never again threatened.
The Penguins never led in the first half, but they managed to keep the Vikings within reach.
Neither team shot very well from the field in the half. The two teams combined for a total of 21 points in the first 12 minutes of play.
Cleveland State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes, before the Penguins came back to narrow the gap to 9-7 with 12:17 remaining.
YSU had just two field goals over the first 10 minutes and shot 38 percent for the half, hitting on 8-21 shots, including 0-for-4 from 3-point range.
It was the first time this season the Penguins did not have a 3-point goal in the first half of play.
The Vikings, who took 13 more shots than the Penguins, were even worse -- hitting just 11 of 34 (32.4 percent). But the Vikings pulled down 27 rebounds to the Penguins' 17, including a 15-5 edge on the offensive boards.
The Penguins got to within one point, 12-11, with 8:15 remaining, but the Vikings went on an 8-0 run and pulled to their biggest lead of the half 20-11 at the 5:06 mark.
YSU got back to within three points, 27-24, on a Roberts jump shot with 1:10 left before Cleveland State took a 29-25 lead at intermission.
The Penguins will remain at home for their next contest, which will be Jan. 21 when they play host to Butler in a 7:05 tip-off at Beeghly Center.