Penguins falter to Bonnies, 66-58, for sixth setback

YSU will try to snap a five-game losing streak against Duquesne next Saturday.
OLEAN, N.Y. -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team played one of its most complete games of the season Saturday, but the Penguins still went down to a 66-58 defeat to St. Bonaventure.
The Penguins (1-6) have now lost five straight and are 0-5 on the road this year, while the Bonnies improved to 5-2, including a 5-0 mark at home.
Saturday's meeting was the first between the two teams in nearly 54 years, and with the win St. Bonaventure takes a 6-1 lead in the series.
For the seventh straight game, junior guard Quin Humphrey finished in double figures to lead the Penguins with 17 points, while senior Derrick Harris was the only other player in double figures with 11. Junior Dwight Holmes finished with a career-high eight points.
Slocum's view
"We've got to start having nights when everybody shows up," said YSU coach Jerry Slocum.
"It breaks my heart to see us play this hard and get nothing to show for it," Slocum added. "We have to get more consistent.
"This has been a difficult stretch for us and now if we can come home and play as well as we did tonight hopefully things will get better."
The Penguins made 21-for-56 shots from the field for 37 percent, but were just 4-for-20 from 3-point range. The Penguins made 12-for-15 free throws, but were outrebounded, 39-35.
The Penguins managed to shut down St. Bonaventure's two top scorers, Ahmad Smith and Patrick Lottin, to a combined 11 points, but picking up the slack were Michael Lee and A.J. Hawkins, both having career best games with 21 and 19 points, respectively.
YSU in lead only once
The Penguins only led once in the contest and that came with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half, 13-10.
St. Bonaventure tied the score at 13 and then took the lead with 5:25 remaining, 17-15, and never trailed again. They led by six points at the break, 30-24.
The Bonnies pulled ahead by nine points, 35-26, early in the second half, but the Penguins, sparked by Holmes, who scored all eight of his points in the second half, battled back to cut the lead to one point, 39-38.
The Bonnies went back up by nine again, 51-42, with just under eight minutes to play and held their biggest lead of 11 points (62-51) with 1:41 remaining.
The Penguins will return home for their next encounter next Saturday when they play host to Duquesne University at 3:25 p.m.