YSU wins home opener

Keston Robert scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Penguins.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The home court at Beeghly Center looked pretty good to the Youngstown State men's basketball team Wednesday night.
Playing their home opener against Slippery Rock University the Penguins dominated The Rock and evened their season record at 1-1 with a 95-53 victory before a crowd of 1,482.
Junior transfer Keston Roberts led the way for YSU with a career-high 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.
Junior Quin Humphrey and senior Domonique Crawford each added 16 points, while sophomore John Barber was the fourth Penguin in double figures with 11.
YSU, which shot over 50 percent in the first half, cooled off a bit in the second to 43.3 percent and 49.2 percent for the game.
YSU also dominated the backboards, outrebounding Slippery Rock 48-25.
First-year head coach Jerry Slocum got a good look at all his players, using 10 players. Only sophomore Colin LaForme, who is nursing a sprained ankle, didn't play and nine players got in double figure minutes.
Slippery Rock (1-2) was led by Nathaniel Crosby with 11 points and Dejan Jancic with 10, all in the first half.
Taking control
Leading 54-29 at halftime, the Penguins never let up in the second half, pulling to a 30-point margin (65-34) with 16:10 remaining and reaching the 40-point margin with 6:37 left in the game (83-43).
The Penguins forced 20 turnovers on the night. They committed 15, but at least five of those came in the final five minutes when the game got a little sloppy.
Humphrey led the rebounding with nine, while John Barber and Crawford each had eight and senior Derrick Harris finished with a career-high 13 assists.
The Penguins jumped out to an early 10-2 lead behind a couple of 3-point goals by Roberts and Humphrey, but Slippery Rock right back to close the gap to 12-10 on back-to-back shots by Erroll Robinson and Pete Craig.
Leading 14-12 with 14:37 left in the half, the Penguins then went on a 15-5 run and pulled to a 29-17 advantage. Roberts had five points in the run, while Harris made three straight free throws.
The Penguins, who forced 12 first half turnovers, padded their lead from there. With a 37-26 margin, the Penguins went on a 15-0 run, sparked by eight points from Roberts. Roberts finished the half with 17 points as YSU took a commanding 52-26 advantage.
Humphrey had 16 points and six rebounds in the half as YSU took a 54-29 lead at intermission.
YSU shot 54.3 percent for the half, including 7 of 18 from 3-point range. The Penguins took 12 more shots and made seven more field goals than The Rock, which shot 52.2 percent. Harris had 10 of YSU's 15 assists in the half.
The Penguins will play Akron at 5 p.m. Saturday at Rhodes Arena.