YSU's rally topples Dukes

Senior Domonique Crawford led the comeback for a 72-65 win.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Senior Domonique Crawford came off the bench and led the Youngstown State men's basketball team to a second half comeback and a 72-65 victory over James Madison before 1,754 fans at Beeghly Center on Wednesday.
Crawford, a transfer from River Rouge, Mich., scored all 20 of his points in the second half and the Penguins rebounded from an 18-point deficit to post their second straight victory.
Junior guard Quin Humphrey, who paced the Penguins (3-6) with 24 points and has scored in double figures every game this season, had nothing but praise for his teammate.
"You want to know how we won this game? That's easy," Humphrey said. "It was all about No. 25; he was the difference tonight."
Junior Keston Roberts was also in double figures for the Penguins with 15 points. Humphrey just missed his fifth double-double of the season as he pulled down nine rebounds. Senior point guard Derrick Harris added seven assists and three steals and had only three turnovers, while the Penguins committed just 10, four in the second half.
Good win
"That was as good of a comeback win that I've seen since I've been coaching," said YSU head coach Jerry Slocum. "It was a tremendous effort and I couldn't be prouder of our guys tonight.
"We played very hard the entire way and we made our foul shots and tonight you were seeing the evolution of a basketball program."
The Penguins never led in the first 20 minutes but stayed right with the Dukes (2-5) most of the way.
After falling behind quickly 9-1, YSU battled back, hitting four 3-point goals out of its first five buckets to get within two, 18-16.
The Penguins tied the contest without a field goal as they connected on four of six free throws to deadlock the game 21-21.
James Madison pulled ahead at intermission 31-29.
The second half didn't exactly begin like Slocum had diagrammed it at halftime as the Penguins came out stone cold and missed their first eight shots from the field.
To make matters worse, the Dukes were red hot, connecting on six straight buckets -- the last two were 3-pointers -- and quickly pulled to a 47-29 advantage with 15:22 remaining.
In comes Crawford
Crawford came off the bench during a YSU timeout and then scored the next 10 points. By the time he had reached 14 points, the Penguins had outscored the Dukes 23-6 and had pulled to within one point at 53-52 with 7:10 remaining.
Humphrey connected on a 3-point goal with 6:26 left to tie the score at 55-55 and Crawford put the Penguins into the lead for the first time on a jump shot with 5:52 remaining.
Once the Penguins got the lead, Slocum spread out the offense. When Roberts hit a jump shot with 2:14 left, the Penguins were up by six, 65-59.
In the final seconds, Humphrey connected on 3 of 4 free throws and Harris added two more. Humphrey cemented the win with a break-away dunk with five seconds remaining.
The Penguins now have a week off for the Christmas holiday and will return to action on Dec. 28 when they travel to Siena for a 7 p.m. tip-off. It will be the final non-conference game before Horizon League plays begins on Dec. 31 at Illinois-Chicago.