YSU BASKETBALL Men try for two straight tonight

Sophomores TeJay Anderson and Khari McQueen were officially declared eligible to play.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State University men's basketball team will try for its first two-game winning streak of the season tonight when the Penguins play host to Robert Morris College at 7 at Beeghly Center.
And the Penguins will have a little more help to go about it.
Tuesday, sophomores TeJay Anderson and Khari McQueen were officially declared eligible to play the rest of the season with the Penguins. The pair had to sit out the first seven games of the season because of academics, which they remedied during the fall semester.
YSU coach John Robic was happy to have the two players back, especially Anderson, who started most of the games last season as a freshman.
"It gives us two more able bodies with which to work with, plus TeJay is probably the best overall athlete we have on the team," Robic said.
Neither player will be in the starting lineup tonight, but Robic expects both to see action.
No strangers: "We'll see what they can do," he said. "One good thing is that they've been practicing all along with the team. How much they'll play tonight I don't really know."
The 6-6 Anderson from Dorchester, Mass., started the final 26 games of the 2000-01 season and set a school record for field goal percentage, making 60.8 percent of his shots.
"Last year most of my shots were within 15 feet of the basket, but this year I've expanded that range and I might even shoot a 3-pointer from time-to-time," Anderson said.
"It is going to be difficult at first, just getting back into the flow of the game, but I'm anxious to get going again."
McQueen, a 6-5, 280 pounder from Springfield, Mass., will give the Penguins much needed strength on the inside.
"I hope to be much more aggressive under the boards this season and help with the rebounding load," McQueen said.
The Penguins are coming off a 75-70 upset victory over Kent State University last Saturday. It was a game in which they overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to win.
The Penguins take a 2-5 record into tonight's game against the Colonials, a team they hold a 4-2 series edge against, including wins in the last three meetings. Last year, the Penguins won 69-56 at Robert Morris.
"The Kent game was a big win for our program," Robic said. "But that win doesn't mean anything if we don't build on it.
"Robert Morris is a better team than the one we've played in the past," he added. "They are senior-laden and we definitely have our work cut out for ourselves."
While the Penguins have two players returning to action, they have lost another one.
Senior Rafael Cruz suffered a knee injury against Kent State and will have a final examination today to determine his future for this season.
"Rafael had an MRI on his knee Monday and goes back to the doctor Wednesday for the results of the test," Robic said. "We won't know anything until then."
Frosh starting: Robic said that freshman Jimmy Moore will start tonight in Cruz's guard position.
The remainder of the YSU lineup will be the same, with senior Ryan Patton and freshman Doug Underwood at the guards, senior Stephen Flores and sophomore Bill Mallernee at the forwards.
Patton leads the team in scoring with a 16.5-point average and is also dishing out 6.4 assists per game. Underwood is scoring at a 14.1 clip and Flores is just under 10 points a game at 9.6.
Robic said that he was impressed that the Penguins had just 10 turnovers against a pressing Kent State defense.
"You have to give a lot of credit to Ryan Patton; he has grown up a lot over the last year," Robic said. "He's become a vocal leader on the floor and is playing with a lot of confidence. People on this team are going to react on how he plays.
"If we take care of the basketball like we did against Kent State, we are going to be in a lot of games this year, and if we get the fan support like we got in the Kent game it is going to make winning a whole lot easier."
mollica@vindy.com