Buffalo is better on boards than YSU at Beeghly

By Pete Mollica

The Penguins put four players in double figures, led by Sirlester Martin, in a season-opening loss.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State’s men’s basketball team opened its season on a sour note Saturday night and the Penguins were their own worst enemy.

A poor shooting night from the field and a good, old-fashion beating on the boards sent the Penguins to a 70-62 loss to Buffalo before nearly 2,000 fans at Beeghly Center.

YSU shot just 22.9 percent from the field in the first half and even though they shot 50 percent in the second half they still finished at 35.4 percent for the game.

The Penguins got beat 51-39 in rebounding mainly because the Bulls had several second-chance attempts and outscored the Penguins 32-22 in the paint, including 14-2 on second chance points.

“It was disappointing the way we rebounded tonight,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum. “Our shooting is going to get better, but we need to work hard on our rebounding and our defense.”

The Penguins put four players in double figures, led by junior transfer Sirlester Martin with 14 points and a 11 rebounds, while junior Kevin Bright added 11 points and senior Jack Liles and sophomore Vytas Sulskis each had 10 points.

The Penguins had the lead in the contest, 54-53, with just over five minutes remaining, but then gave up nine straight points, seven of them by Buffalo’s leading scorer Rodney Pierce, who had 21 on the night. That run pulled Buffalo to a 62-54 advantage and the Penguins could get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

“We had the lead at crunch time, but we gave them some easy wide open shots and we missed three straight layups and the game turned completely around,” said Slocum.

The Penguins don’t have a lot of time to get things straightened around as Tuesday night they visit Maryland.

Sulskis said the defeat was a tough one to swallow.

“It’s hard because we know that we were good enough to beat them and we should have beaten them,” he said. “We came back in the second half, but we just let them play volleyball too many times underneath.”

The Penguins scored the game’s first basket, but then fell behind 14-10 midway through the first half.

The Penguins took a 15-14 lead on a basket by sophomore Vance Cooksey and then the teams exchanged baskets over the next three minutes.

The Penguins led 22-20 with 6:12 left in the half, but never scored another field goal the rest of the half, missing their final nine shots, and trailed 30-24 at the intermission.

YSU stayed close but couldn’t overtake the Bulls in the second half. They tied the contest 43-43 on two free throws by Sulskis and the game was tied again at 49-49 with 10 minutes remaining.

Liles gave the Penguins their final lead on a reverse layup with 5:32 left, but Greg Gamble answered with a basket and then Pierce scored three straight, including a 3-point goal to put the Bulls back in command.

YSU came back to within five points, 65-60, with under a minute to play, but Buffalo connected on four straight free throws and last second basket by Calvin Betts.

The Penguins committed just 10 turnovers while Buffalo had 15. The Penguins, who were 23-of-65 from the field, were also just 2-of-18 from 3-point range. They also missed nine free throws.

mollica@vindy.com