Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Penguins got a bad start, made a comeback and then fell short, 74-71.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — It’s starting to get a little repetitious for the Youngstown State men’s basketball team — and not for the better.
The Penguins continue to dig themselves into a hole, make a valiant second-half comeback only to fall short at the end.
Monday night was much of the same as YSU (3-6) trailed by 18 points with about 10 minutes remaining in its contest with Robert Morris (6-4).
The Penguins cut that lead to two points, but could get no closer and suffered their fourth-straight defeat, 74-71, before 1,581 fans at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins had their chances including two, wide open 3-point shots in the final 15 seconds, but neither would fall.
“We did battle well in the second half,” YSU coach Jerry Slocum said. “We had our chances, two, wide open 3s in the final seconds, but they didn’t go in.
“We’ve just got to get rebounds and we’ve got to make free throws and more importantly we’ve got to play well for 40 minutes,” Slocum said.
Senior Byron Davis led the Penguins, who put five players in double figures for the first time this season. Davis finished with a game-high 20 points, but the 6-2 guard from Detroit, Mich., also missed both of the 3-point shots in the closing seconds.
“I had two good looks at the basket at the end, but that’s the way the ball bounces some times,” Davis said.
Freshman Vytas Sulskis finished with 13 points while junior Jack Liles added 12 and freshman Vance Cooksey and senior Dwight Holmes each had 11.
“We showed tonight just what we are capable of doing,” Slocum said. “We shared the ball well tonight.”
The Colonials also had five players in double figures led by Tony Lee with 16 and Jeremy Chappell with 13 as Robert Morris snapped a two-game losing streak.
The Penguins never led in the game and the contest was only tied once at 2-2 in the opening minutes.
YSU fell behind quickly 10-2, but managed to battle back to trail 18-13 with about 13 minutes left in the half. Then the Colonials connected on three straight 3-point shots, two by Jimmy Langhurst, and jumped to a 27-13 advantage.
The Penguins whittled away at the lead and by halftime were within seven points, 38-31.
The Colonials went on an 11-2 run early in the second half to widen their margin to 51-35 and later had a 7-0 run to go ahead by 18 points, 66-48, with 10:10 remaining.
Sulskis got the Penguins rolling with his fourth 3-pointer and started an 18-3 run that pulled YSU to within three points 69-66 with 5:13 remaining.
The Penguins pulled to within two points, 70-68, on Davis’ jumper and Cooksey made two free throws to keep it at 72-70, but Chappell made one free throw with 24.2 seconds left.
The Penguins came down and Davis missed on a drive, but the ball was bounced out of bounds by Robert Morris.
Davis got another chance and missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Sulskis was fouled on the rebound attempt, but made only one of two shots.
A.J. Jackson made one of two free throws with seven seconds and the Penguins had one last shot by Davis with two seconds left, but it bounced off the rim.
The Penguins were 13-of-23 from the foul line and were out-rebounded 37-34. YSU shot just 36 percent in the first half and 50 percent in the second, while the Colonials shot 53 percent for the game. They also missed nine free throws.
The Penguins will be at Akron on Friday as part of the doubleheader with YSU and Akron women playing in the opener at 5:30. The men’s game will follow at 8 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com