Tale of 2 halves: YSU starts slow, can’t catch Kent

The Penguins played poorly in the first half before
rallying in the second.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State men’s basketball coach Jerry Slocum doesn’t think much of moral victories.

He even gets more upset when people talk about the great second half that his Penguins had.

Wednesday night Slocum was disappointed following his team’s 59-52 loss to Kent State before 3,562 fans at the Beeghly Center.

The Penguins trailed 36-18 at halftime, held the Golden Flashes to just one field goal for the first 11 minutes of the second half, but never got closer than three points and then only in the final minute of the contest.

“I’m tired of hearing about moral victories,” Slocum said. “Moral victories are shallow and the game lasts 40 minutes, not 20.

“I was very disappointed tonight because I thought that if we played 40 minutes we could have won this game,” he added.

“It was another learning lesson for this team, a tough lesson,” he said. “We won’t dwell on it, but we certainly will be correcting mistakes tomorrow.”

YSU (3-4) shot only 27.6 percent in the first half and committed 11 turnovers and were 0-for-4 from 3-point range, while Kent State (7-2) on the other hand shot 61.5 percent in the half and built a 36-18 halftime lead.

Senior John Barber and senior Byron Davis led the Penguins with 14 points apiece, while junior Jack Liles added 10 points. Al Fisher led the Flashes with 16 points.

The Penguins jumped out to their only lead of the contest scoring the first four points and led 6-2 with 16:25 remaining in the half before the Flashes took over.

Kent went on a 17-2 run over the next six minutes and pulled in front 19-8.

“They scored 14 of their 16 baskets in the half on layups,” Slocum added.

The Penguins came out the second half and quickly went on a 10-2 run sparked by Barber, who had six of the 10 points and cut the lead to 38-28.

The Flashes would go over 11 minutes scoring just three points in the half, but the Penguins could only get to within seven points 39-32 with 8:32 left in the game.

The Penguins refused to go away and stayed right with Kent never trailing by more than nine which was the score 53-44 with 2:16 remaining.

Davis hit a pair of free throws with 1:50 left and then Mel Johnson stole the ball and scored to get to 53-48, but Fisher, who had nine of his points in the second half, six in the final 1:20 kept the Flashes out front.

Two free throws by Barber and two more by freshman Vance Cooksey cut the Flashes lead to three points 55-52, but Fisher came right back to score on a short jumper and after Johnson’s 3-point shot was blocked, Fisher hit two free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining to close out the win.

The Penguins don’t have a lot of time to recover as they will open Horizon League play on Saturday when they travel to Cleveland State for a 5 p.m. tip off at the Wolstein Center in Goodman Arena.

mollica@vindy.com