YSU falters in second half

The Penguins couldn't overcome Wright State down the stretch.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team is no longer unbeaten at home this season.
Thursday night, the Penguins fell apart in the final eight minutes and suffered a 69-59 defeat to Wright State in the Horizon League opener for both teams at Beeghly Center.
YSU (2-6, 0-1 Horizon) was tied with the Raiders at 49-49 with 8:34 remaining in the contest, but the Penguins did not score a field goal for the next seven minutes and only scored four points during that span to fall behind 63-53.
"We came out in the second half and took entirely too many jump shots and didn't attack the paint," said coach John Robic.
"We took way too many 3s," he added. "In the second half we were playing not to lose rather than to win."
3-point inaccuracy
The Penguins were just 6-of-23 from 3-point range and junior Doug Underwood made all six, but attempted 15. Underwood was the only Penguin in double figures with 22 points.
Robic was not pleased with the team's shot selection, especially Underwood.
"It concerns me that he took 15 3s. That's entirely too many," Robic said.
"We still have a lot of unanswered questions and we have just 36 hours to get ready for the next game."
The Penguins will play former Mid-Continent Conference rival Oakland (Mich.) Saturday at 2 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
While the Penguins were having trouble finding the range in the second half, the Raiders were shooting 59.1 percent.
Senior Seth Doliboa led the Raiders with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, while Vernard Hollins added 19 points, including 8-of-12 at the free throw line.
"Tonight they were the two best players on the floor," Robic said.
The Penguins, who outrebounded the Raiders 19-13 in the first half, got only seven rebounds the second half and finished on the short end of a 34-26 total.
Early edge
YSU jumped out to an early 11-4 lead, hitting four of their first six shots from the field.
The Raiders tied the score at 11 and then took the lead at 15-13 on a jump shot by Doliboa with 12:10 remaining.
The Penguins trailed by five, 20-15 with 9:40 remaining, but battled back to tie the score at 25 and took the lead 29-27 with four minutes remaining on a huge dunk by TeJay Anderson. YSU held a 33-31 lead at intermission.
In the first 12 minutes of the second half, the score was tied six times and there were seven lead changes before the Penguins went into the tank.
Underwood hit a jump shot with 8:34 remaining to tie the score at 49 and YSU's next field goal came at the 1:27 mark when Derrick Harris scored to cut the Raiders' lead to 63-55.
YSU's leading scorer, Adam Baumann, fouled out with 4:08 remaining.
That foul cost Robic a technical when he continued to argue with the officials over the call.
"I was very unhappy with Adam's fifth foul; it should never have been called," Robic said.
The Penguins also will be in action on Monday when they play host to another former Mid-Continent Conference opponent, Missouri-Kansas City, at 7 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
mollica@vindy.com