Mistakes foil Penguins in defeat at Duquesne

YSU's offense fizzled in the waning minutes as the Dukes pulled out a 61-56 win at the Palumbo Center.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH -- Turnovers and shooting woes were again the downfall for the Youngstown State men's basketball team, and the defense couldn't save the Penguins.
Wednesday night, Youngstown State made too many mistakes in a 61-56 loss to Duquesne before 3,003 fans at the Palumbo Center.
The Penguins trailed 50-47 with 4:39 remaining, but they managed just five shots over those final minutes, and one came at the final buzzer.
The Penguins (4-3) extended their road losing streak to 18 straight games. Duquesne (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak.
Baumann nets 18
Only 6-8 junior Adam Baumann, with 18 points, scored in double figures for YSU. Freshman Derrick Harris, who made his first start of his career against the Dukes, finished with nine and sophomore Doug Underwood chipped in with eight. Baumann also finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
The Penguins shot 39.1 percent (18-for-46) and were 17-of-23 at the foul line and 3-for-9 from 3-point range. They committed 20 turnovers, as did the Dukes.
Duquesne shot 45.2 percent (19-for-42) and were 18-for-24 at the line and 5-for-8 from behind the arc. Junior Ron Stokes led the Dukes with 13 points, while senior Kevin Forney added 11 and Bryant McCallister also had 11. Dokes also had seven rebounds.
"We didn't do a good job of penetrating their zone defense, but we did a very good job on defense," Youngstown State coach John Robic said. "When you hold [Jimmy] Tricco to seven shots, that's a pretty good effort."
Tricco had been averaging 13.5 points per game.
"I thought Adam [Baumann] did a great job working inside with all their big men, then we lost Jamel [Porter] in the first half so we were undermanned inside."
Porter hurts foot
Porter suffered an arch strain in his right foot and will be day-to-day. He was injured in the first 10 minutes of the contest.
The Penguins never led after the first 10 minutes of the game and trailed 30-21 at halftime.
They battled back to 34-32 with 14 minutes remaining, but then quickly fell back 39-32.
Underwood hit a 3-point goal with 6:20 remaining to bring the Penguins back to 46-44 and they stayed close until the final four minutes.
The first half wasn't the best the Penguins have played this year, but it wasn't the worst.
Bad shooting
They shot poorly, making just 9-for-24 from the field and committed too many turnovers (13), but still never let the Dukes out of their sight.
The Penguins led during the early going, jumping out to a 9-4 advantage off a pair of goals by Baumann and two more by Williamson, one a 3-point shot.
The Dukes tied the score at 9 and then took the lead on Tricco's free throw.
YSU regained the lead on a bucket by Porter and then two free throws by Baumann to pull ahead 13-10, but a 3-point shot by Dokes and another by Forney and the Dukes were in front to stay the rest of the half.
Duquesne built a 22-13 advantage, before the Penguins cut that lead to 23-19 with 7:45 remaining.
Ice-cold mode
But then the Penguins went into their ice-cold mode, hitting 1-of-7 shots and turning the ball over six times during those final seven minutes and trailed 30-21 at halftime.
The margin could have been worse, except for the fact that the Dukes were 3-for-10 with four turnovers during that same span.
The Penguins will be on the road for the second straight game on Saturday, when they travel to meet Missouri-Kansas City at 8 p.m. YSU plays host to Niagara Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com