Missed shots doom YSU

UW-Milwaukee came out on top, 78-70.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team had the opportunity to pull off one of the biggest wins of the season Thursday night, but the Penguins couldn't make a basket when they needed one.
YSU battled back from a 13-point second-half deficit to pull within two points of UW-Milwaukee 72-70 with just over a minute remaining, but missed its final five shots from the field and bowed 78-70 before just over 2,000 fans in a Horizon League game at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins (6-12, 3-5) trailed 64-51 with seven minutes remaining, but battled back to pull to within two points 72-70 on junior Keston Roberts' 3-point goal with 1:07 remaining.
Come up empty
But in that final minute the Penguins had one costly turnover and missed five shots at the basket, while the league-leading Panthers converted 4-of-5 free throws and a basket to wrap up the win.
"I'm very disappointed with our play in the second half," said YSU head coach Jerry Slocum. "Our kids showed character by coming back, but we did not finish the deal tonight.
"We had two offensive mistakes and three defensive mistakes in the last minute of play," Slocum added. "You are not going to beat a team of Milwaukee's caliber playing like we did at the end."
The Penguins shot the ball well on the night, hitting 26 of 52 shots for 50 percent. They were 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
They put four players in double figures, led by Roberts with 17 points. Senior Derrick Harris finished with 13 and added a game-high nine assists. Junior Quin Humphrey had another double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but he had only two points the entire second half. John Barber added 12 points, but also had five turnovers, one crucial one in the final minute of play.
UW-Milwaukee (15-4, 8-1) was led by Boo Davis, who scored 22 points, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range. He scored the first 14 points for the Panthers in the second half.
Frustrating
"It was a tough loss because we had prepared well for this game," said Harris. "We were down two points with a minute left and just couldn't make a basket. It's frustrating because in more than half our losses we beat ourselves."
The Penguins fell behind quickly in the opening minutes 12-4, but then battled back and pulled to within one point 14-13 on two straight Roberts' baskets.
The game remained close the rest of the half. The score was tied twice and the lead changed hands five times. YSU had its last lead 35-34 with 38 seconds remaining before Adrian Tigert scored in the final seconds to give Milwaukee a 36-35 halftime lead.
Davis opened the second half with back-to-back 3-point goals, which Harris countered, but Davis hit two more and a two pointer and the Panthers had six 3-point goals in the first 10 minutes to grab a 60-48 advantage.
YSU still trailed 70-63 with 2:52 left to play, but Barber hit two of three free throws and Domonique Crawford added two more charity shots before Roberts canned the big 3-pointer to close the gap to two points.
Pass thrown away
Milwaukee went back up by four on a Davis basket with 44.7 seconds left, but then Barber threw the inbounds pass away and that led to two more points on foul shots by Chris Hill.
The Penguins missed five shots, two by Roberts, in the final 43 seconds.
The Penguins now must play two straight away games in three days. The first is a trip to Cleveland State on Saturday at 5:30. That will be followed up by a Monday night game at Wright State at 7 p.m.
"Three games in five days isn't a pleasant thought," Slocum said. "We definitely have our work cut out for us."