YSU handed fourth defeat

The Penguins failed to win on the road again, falling to Marshall, 73-70.
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team just can't seem to get over the hump when it comes to road games this season.
The Penguins suffered their third straight road defeat and their 24th straight non-conference road loss, 73-70, to Marshall University Sunday at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Penguins were in the contest most of the way and were deadlocked with The Herd at 56-all with 7 minutes, 40 seconds remaining, but again it was a dry spell that killed the Penguins as they scored just three points over the next seven minutes and found themselves behind 68-59 with just under one minute to play.
"You're not going to get it done with 19 turnovers," said YSU first-year coach Jerry Slocum. "We have to take better care of the basketball.
"I thought that once again we got the maximum effort from our kids," he added. "We were better tonight than we were last game and that's been our goal to continue to get better."
Final effort not enough
YSU outscored Marshall 11-5 over the final minute of play, but it still wasn't enough to pull out a win as the Penguins dropped to 1-4.
Junior guard Quin Humphrey scored in double figures for the fifth straight time this season and had his third straight double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore John Barber had his best effort of the year with 16 points while also in double figures were junior Keston Roberts and Dominique Crawford with 10 points each.
Senior point guard Derrick Harris was a steady performer with seven points, seven rebounds and six assists, while committing only two turnovers.
Tough on the boards
The Penguins outrebounded The Herd 41-30, but Marshall (3-2) ended up winning the game at the foul line where they connected on 15-of-19 compared to the Penguins' 8-of-11.
YSU trailed 3-0 to open the game, but then went on an 11-0 run to take the lead, connecting on 3-point goals by Humphrey, Roberts and Harris.
Marshall tied the score with an 8-0 run and the remainder of the half the two teams battled back and forth until The Herd pulled ahead 40-38 at halftime.
The Penguins scored the first six points of the second half, but Marshall tied it at 46 with 15:44 remaining.
The game was tied at 51, 54 and finally at 56-all when Harris hit a jump shot with 7:40 remaining.
Start of the end
Marshall's Travis Aikens, who led The Herd with 17 points, then scored a conventional three-point play for a 59-56 lead and The Herd never trailed again.
During its dry spell YSU had five turnovers and missed five shots in 10 possessions and by the time Humphrey made a free throw with 48 seconds remaining the Penguins were down 68-60.
Barber's 3-point shot with 41.5 seconds to go cut the lead to five points, 68-63, then Humphrey made two more free throws with 31.3 seconds remaining to make it 68-65.
The Herd connected on 3-of-4 free throws and a solo basket as the Penguins had another turnover and the game was over.
YSU will play the second of its three-game road trip Wednesday when it travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., to take on Eastern Michigan at 8:30 p.m.