BASKETBALL Ill.-Chicago is big challenge for YSU men

Youngstown's women's team is playing in Dayton Thursday.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State men and women basketball teams will be trying to get back on a winning trend Thursday when both return to Horizon League competition.
The men (7-14, 3-8 Horizon) will play host to Illinois-Chicago at 7 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
The women (2-20, 0-11 Horizon) will be on the road playing Wright State in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Nutter Center in Dayton.
Coach John Robic's men's team is coming off a disappointing 73-70 overtime loss to UW-Green Bay last Saturday at Beeghly.
Eyeing No. 6
The loss was a costly one for the Penguins who are still battling for the No. 6 spot in the conference standings.
The Penguins are two games behind Detroit and Butler (5-6 in league play).
"We're still hoping to get as high as sixth place and host a first-round playoff game," Robic said Tuesday. "You never know what's going to happen in this league. Right now, the only spots that appear locked up are the No. 1 and No. 9 positions."
UW-Milwaukee holds a two-game lead over Green Bay and Wright State with its 11-1 record. Cleveland State on the other end is winless in all 12 league games this season.
"We've proven that we can play with anybody in this league," Robic said. "I couldn't say that last year or the year before so we have come a long way.
"UIC is a team that we really don't match up well against, their guards are so good," Robic said. "Martell Bailey is one of the assists leaders in the nation averaging over 10 a game and Cedrick Banks is the league's preseason player of the year."
UIC (16-7, 7-4 Horizon) has won four straight games and seven of its last nine after opening the league with two losses.
Flames own Penguins
In their first meeting, the Penguins were beaten 66-47 in Chicago. The Penguins have yet to beat the Flames in 10 meetings.
YSU is led by 6-8 senior Adam Baumann, who scored 23 points in the loss to Green Bay. He also had 12 rebounds for his ninth career double-double.
The Penguins still will be without sophomore shooting guard Andy Jahnke, who is still nursing a bruised hip that kept him out of Saturday's contest.
Women's coach Tisha Hill still has confidence in her basketball team, despite the fact the team has lost 20 of its last 21 games.
Saturday, the Penguins dropped a 55-54 contest to Loyola and Hill is hoping the strong comeback in that game will spark the Penguins out of their losing ways.
"This team is not going to give up," Hill said. "Now it's just a matter of closing out the game.
"There's going to be mistakes," she said. "Hopefully not 29 like we had last game."
Hill has been using a rotation of nine of players, mainly because of the fierce competition during practice sessions.
Unity's the word
"In February, you don't really want that continuous rotation, but I know they are being competitive with each other," Hill said.
If there is still one word that describes this team, Hill said it's "togetherness."
"The heart is never going to run out on this team," Hill said. "I'm still trying to find leadership, especially with all the adversity they've been through this year.
"The only thing we can do is take in one game at a time and find out what we need to do to beat Wright State," Hill said.
The Raiders (6-15, 3-8 Horizon) lost a heartbreaking 65-64 to UW-Green Bay on Saturday.
When the two teams met earlier this season, the Raiders pulled out a 61-58 decision at Beeghly Center.