Another road contest dropped
The Penguins blew an 11-point advantage in the second half.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Just when it looked as if the Youngstown State University men's basketball team was finally going to end its long non-conference road losing streak, something happened and the Penguins lost again.
YSU, which hasn't won a non-conference road game since Jan. 2, 2001, blew an 11-point second-half lead and lost a 75-68 decision to Canisius College Saturday as part of the ESPN Bracket Buster event.
It was the 30th straight non-conference road loss for the Penguins (7-18), whose last win against non-conference opposition was over Robert Morris, 69-56.
The Golden Griffins (7-18) put on a tremendous second-half shooting exhibition, hitting 20 of 26 shots (76.9 percent) and outscored YSU 50-35 over the final 20 minutes.
"Our defensive IQ in the second half was horrible to allow [Canisius' Kevin Downey] to have all those open shots," YSU coach Jerry Slocum said.
Senior Day celebration
Downey scored 22 of his game-high 27 points in the second half on Senior Day when he also went over 1,500 career points. He connected on 10 of 16 shots from the field, 3-of-7 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 at the foul line.
"There is no excuse for letting him have two wide open 3-point shots late in the game after he had been killing us the entire half," Slocum said. "That's just bad basketball with a bad basketball mind and that's what was very disappointing."
Canisius (7-18) finished the game shooting 58 percent as they were 9-of-24 in the first half (37.5 percent) when they trailed the entire 20 minutes.
YSU was led by junior Keston Roberts with 19 points while senior Derrick Harris and junior Quin Humphrey each added 10 points.
Harris also tied his career-high in assists with 12, including nine in the first half, and also had seven rebounds to share team honors with Humphrey.
The Penguins outrebounded the Griffins 34-26.
Penguins criticized
"We had a lot of open shots today, some we made, some we didn't. We were very streaky, but there was still no excuse for letting [Downey] score like he did, especially in the second half," Slocum said.
The Penguins opened the game on a 13-0 run, making five of its first six shots. Three of the baskets were 3-pointers, including two by Roberts.
But over the next four minutes YSU was 0-for-6 from the floor and Canisius ran off 12 straight points to make it a one-point game, 13-12.
YSU managed to hang onto the lead, rebuilding its lead to 17-14 and finally 33-25 at the intermission.
The Penguins led 42-31 with 16:49 remaining on another 3-point shot by Roberts, but then the problems began.
The Griffins went on a 17-6 run, the final three coming from Downey, that deadlocked the score at 48-all and ignited his run.
The 6-foot-3 senior guard scored 17 of the next 21 points for the Griffins and by the time he was finished -- connecting on his third 3-pointer of the game -- Canisius led 70-64 with 52.3 seconds remaining.
Easy bucket
The Penguins pulled to 70-68 on a conventional three-point play by Roberts, but when the Penguins tried a full-court pressure defense Downey scored an easy bucket off a fast break and added a free throw to put the Griffins back up, 73-68.
Humphrey then was called for an offensive foul and Harris followed with an air ball with 10 seconds remaining, ending all hopes.
The Penguins return to Horizon League play Wednesday at Butler at 7 p.m. They will conclude the regular season at the Beeghly Center Saturday against Loyola at 7 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com