Slocum gifted a victory

Youngstown State’s men’s basketball team salvaged what was looking like a pretty sparse weekend.

The men’s 70-66 victory over Detroit, the Penguins’ first win at Calihan Hall, was the lone bright spot as the men’s and women’s basketball teams lost three of four games since Thursday.

The men struggled Thursday at Wright State, losing 66-55, while the women lost 77-66 at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Saturday was a better day as the women, trailing by 20 points at halftime against UW-Green Bay, battled back before losing, 85-80.

The men’s victory was a good one, although it came against a Detroit team that has lost 10 straight and six in a row at home.

Still, the Penguins had never won there before and they had to battle to get the victory.

The Penguins led by seven at halftime, then started the second half without scoring a point for the first 51⁄2 minutes while falling behind, 45-40.

Penguins rallied,
held off Titans for win

They then rallied for a 9-0 run to regain the lead and held off the Titans in the final minute to improve to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in the Horizon League.

Senior John Barber, a Detroit native, had a big game for the Penguins in his hometown as he scored 22 points.

Freshman Vytas Sulskis added 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Penguins got 17 points and eight assists from senior Byron Davis, another Detroit native.

“We played very well except for the first five minutes of the second half,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum, whose birthday was Saturday.

“This was the best birthday present that I could have ever received,” he said.

Both teams will be at Beeghly Center this week for a pair of doubleheaders.

Thursday will mark the first appearance of former Mid-Continent Conference rival Valparaiso to Beeghly Center since 2001.

Valpo joined the Horizon League this season and will take on the YSU men’s team in the second game on Thursday at 7:35 p.m.

The women will take on Wright State in Thursday’s opener at 5:15 p.m.

Saturday, the women play host to Detroit at 4:35 p.m., followed by the men’s game against nationally-ranked Butler at 7:05.

Don’t expect change
for a couple of years

Football fans who have wanted the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision to expand its playoffs shouldn’t expect to see anything change for at least a couple of years, according to YSU athletic director Ron Strollo.

A member of the FCS playoff committee, Strollo said there was discussion about expanding the playoff field by four and even eight teams.

One problem is that by expanding the field the overall season would have to be lengthened and Chattanooga, Tenn., the host of the title game, doesn’t want it played any later than its current slot, which has been between Dec. 15-21.

The NCAA wants to eliminate the regular-season open weeks in order to shorten the season so the championship game can fall within the same schedule when they do increase the number of teams.

But since most schedules are made years in advance, this plan would have to allow schools to make those changes, a minimum of two years.

That shouldn’t affect Youngstown State, which has almost always scheduled its open week at the end of the season.

This coming year should be an exciting one with the addition of North Dakota State and South Dakota State to the Gateway Football Conference.

The Penguins are expected to have a 12-game schedule in 2008 and Strollo expects to release it soon.

XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.