League on the Horizon

By Pete Mollica

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball team are enjoying their Christmas vacation, but come Friday both teams will be back at practice getting ready for the upcoming Horizon League season.

Both teams still have one more non-conference game before heading into the league schedule.

On Monday, the YSU men’s team will play host to Division II Lock Haven in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Beeghly center, while on Tuesday the YSU women will be on the road to wind up non-league play with a 7 p.m. tip-off at Toledo.

The men (2-8) are coming off a three-game road trip which produced their second victory of the season, a 64-61 win at High Point, N.C, last Friday. It also included a pair of losses at Kent State and at Charlotte, N.C.

The women’s team (2-8) had an extra celebration to its Christmas vacation as the Penguins defeated Akron 58-52 for their first home victory of the year last Saturday at Beeghly Center.

Men’s head coach Jerry Slocum, now in his fourth season, still believes his Penguins will contend for a top five playoff berth in the Horizon League this season.

The Penguins have been in most games this year, but have found a way to lose several games. YSU has seven new faces on its roster and six of the seven have played key roles already this year, but the big problem has been the blending in of the newcomers with the returning players.

Senior Jack Liles (6-7) and sophomores Vytas Sulskis (6-7) and Vance Cooksey (6-0) have all had starting experience coming into the season. Liles and Sulskis have both been starters this year along with newcomers junior Kelvin Bright (6-4), junior Sirlester Martin (6-7) and junior DeAndre Mays (6-2). The latter three were all junior college transfers.

Cooksey has been both a starter and a force off the bench. Junior transfer Dallas Blocker (6-9) has helped inside, but injuries have kept his production to a minimum.

Freshman newcomer Ashen Ward (6-3) is another talented performer, while the team has yet to see action from Florida freshman Eddie D’Haiti (6-8), who has been hampered with injuries.

Following the Lock Haven game, the Penguins, who are already 0-2 in Horizon League play after two early season home losses, will go on the road to play at Detroit (Jan. 1) and at Wright State (Jan. 3), hoping to even up that conference record.

The women, under first-year head coach Cindy Martin, are hoping to take a lot of confidence from their win over Akron and build on it at Toledo.

Senior Tiara Scott (6-0) has regained the role of leading scorer with a 16-point effort against the Zips, while senior Kelsey Gurganus (5-8) is starting to regain her form from a year ago. Senior Nikita LaFleur has been a dominant rebounder and one of the tops in the Horizon League, averaging over eight per contests.

Newcomers Jaquetta Westley (5-7 junior), Kenya Middlebrooks (5-7 freshman) and Macey Nortey (5-3 freshmen) have all been good additions to the program.

The Penguins have had problems with poor shooting and too many turnovers. They’ve improved on their shooting considerably, but they are still making too many turnovers.

Following the Toledo contest the Penguins jump into conference action with two straight road games beginning Jan. 3 at Valparaiso and then at Butler on Jan. 5.