'D' is key against MAC-foe Buffalo

Adam Baumann produced a double-double for the Penguins in the 63-48 victory.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Defense is the key to the Youngstown State men's basketball success. When the Penguins play strong defense, they usually win.
Saturday, they played solid defense all night long in a 63-48 victory over Buffalo before 2,507 fans at Beeghly Center.
YSU (3-2) was led by 6-8 junior Adam Baumann, who had his first double-double of the season (19 points and 12 rebounds).
"I thought Adam Baumann was terrific tonight, but don't expect that every night," YSU coach John Robic said. "Now if we can just get him and Jamel [Porter] going at the same time we'll be all right."
The Penguins also had two other players in double figures -- sophomore Doug Underwood with 13 and senior Marlon Williamson with 10.
The Penguins didn't shoot all that well, hitting 18 of 50 for 36 percent. And they were way off at the foul line, making just 26 of 43 attempts. They finished tied with the Bulls in rebounding at 40 each.
Surprise
"I'm really surprised at how well we played, because we haven't practiced that well the last two days and our shoot-around on Friday was horrible," Robic said.
"Our kids still just don't understand what it takes to play at this level," Robic said. "We're not good enough to just come out and think we can win, we have to work our tails off every game just to stay in it."
The Penguins led only by a point at halftime 26-25, but never let the Bulls get in front the rest of the game.
The Penguins took a 10 point advantage 41-31 with 9:10 remaining on a 3-point shot by Williamson and the Bulls never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
If the Penguins could have made some free throws they could have upped their lead considerably as the scored their final 13 points from the line, but it came on 13-of-22 shooting.
Baumann said that the key to the Penguins success is with the defense.
'We have goals set before every game and they include keeping the opponents under 40 percent shooting and holding them to under 60 points. Tonight we did both," Baumann said.
"When we play good defense it just makes the offense that much better, but we've just got to keep it up every game."
Back and forth
The Penguins played a solid first half, but shot only 35.7 percent from the field, while taking a 26-25 lead.
For the first 10 minutes the two teams battled shot-for-shot with the game tied five times before the Penguins took a 14-12 lead that they would keep through halftime.
A 6-0 run, led by Anderson, Doug Underwood and Bill Mallernee put the Penguins up 18-12 with 8:10 remaining.
After the Bulls cut the deficit to three points 18-15, the Penguins made five straight points to lead 23-15 with 5:01 left in the half.
A tap-in off a missed shot by Baumann gave the Penguins their biggest lead of the half, 25-17, with just over three minutes to play.
Buffalo's Turner Battle hit a 3-point shot and two free throws to cut the lead to 25-22.
A conventional three-point play by Clarence Smith with 21 seconds remaining cut the YSU lead to one, 26-25.
The Penguins made just seven turnovers, compared to 11 for the Bulls in the half.
Buffalo had the edge in rebounds 23-20, although Baumann added nine for the Penguins along with his 15 first half points.
YSU will be in action at home again Friday when it plays host to Shawnee State in a 7 p.m. tipoff at Beeghly.
mollica@vindy.com