Sunday, November 20, 2005
The Penguins were unable to sustain a comeback against St. Francis.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
LORETTO, Pa. -- Jerry Slocum's debut as the Youngstown State men's basketball coach Saturday went the way of the Penguins' seven-minute second-half dryspell which led to a 71-58 season opening loss to St. Francis University.
The Penguins, who trailed by 13 points at halftime, had whittled the Red Flash lead to five points on a 3-point shot by senior Derrick Harris with 15:28 remaining in the game.
But from that point, the Penguins went stone cold from the field going 7:21 without scoring a point and in the meantime fell behind the Red Flash, 58-40, and was never able to recover.
"It was a little bit the fact that this was their third game and our first game and it really showed tonight," Slocum said. "I thought our shot selection was very poor tonight, it probably was the difference in the game.
"We dug ourselves a hole early and then we came back out the second half and played really well for about five or six minutes, then gave up a 13-0 run and we were back in that hole again," Slocum said.
YSU leaders
The Penguins were led by junior Keston Roberts who tossed in 14 points, all of them in the second half. Domonique Crawford added 12, all coming in the first half, and junior Quinn Humphrey chipped in with 11.
The Penguins shot 36.1 percent from the field, making just 22 of 61 shots and that included 6-of-21 from 3-point range. The Penguins also made just 8-of-14 free throws.
The Red Flash (1-2) was led by Rahsaan Benton with 18 points while J.R. Enright added 15 and Jelani Lawrence added 11.
St. Francis shot 54.2 percent for the game and was 10-of-19 from 3-point range.
Roberts came out and scored two quick buckets for the Penguins in the second half and then trailing 40-29 the Penguins went on an 11-5 run and were back in the game 45-40.
Penguins go cold
YSU then went cold, missing its next eight shots from the field and also throw in four or five turnovers and the contest was quickly out of their reach.
"We're not the type of team that's going to get a lot of put backs because we're not that big and our 1-2-3 players have got to carry the scoring load for us," Slocum said.
The Penguins struggled early in the contest, making just four of their first 16 shots from the field and quickly found themselves in a hole.
After sophomore Colin LaForme slammed home a dunk shot with 17:25 remaining in the half for a 5-3 Penguins lead, the Red Flash took control of the contest.
YSU falls behind
St. Francis outscored the Penguins 23-4 over the next eight minutes and pulled to a 26-9 advantage.
But then Crawford came off the bench and tried to light a fire under the Penguins.
He scored 10 straight points and had 12 in the half as the Penguins cut away a little of the margin, and when Humphrey hit back-to-back jump shots, they got to within 11 points first 34-23 and then 36-25, but eventually trailed 38-25 at intermission.
The Penguins hit on only 28.6 percent of their shots in the half, making just 8 of 28. The Red Flash hit on 15 of 26 for 57.7 percent, including six of 10 from 3-point range.
The Penguins will play their home opener on Wednesday against Slippery Rock at 7:05 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com