YSU’s rally wasted in loss
YSU rallied from a 14-point deficit only to lose its fourth game to St. Francis, 66-65.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN — One of these days, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team is going to play a full 40 minutes, and then somebody better look out.
Last Tuesday, the Penguins played a great first half and built a 23-point lead only to fall apart in the second half and lose in the final seconds to Robert Morris.
Saturday night, the Penguins didn’t play their best in the first half and fell behind by as many as 14 points, but came back in the second half only to fall a point short in a 66-65 loss to St. Francis, Pa., before an announced crowd of 1,585 at Beeghly Center.
“We just played too soft in the first half,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum. “This game tonight was lost in the first half. We had our chances, but just never took advantage of them.”
The Penguins (1-4) also had to contend with a 62 percent shooting effort by St. Francis in the first half, when the visitors built a 38-24 lead and took a 40-31 lead at intermission.
“They shot very well in the first half and they came up with the big plays when they needed them,” Slocum added. It was a very disappointing effort for us tonight.”
And the Penguins don’t have a lot of time before they step into Horizon League play Thursday night, when they play host to Valparaiso in a 7:05 p.m. game at Beeghly Center.
Sophomore forward Vytas Sulskis went over the 20-point mark for the second straight game as he finished with a game-high 22 points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Vytas had another good game tonight, but another good effort thrown away,” Slocum said.
Sulskis said the Penguins need to get things together and quickly.
“We’ve got to come out and play hard for a full 40 minutes,” Sulskis said. “We need to play the whole game the way we played the second half tonight. I know my teammates and I know we are capable of doing that, and we have to get it together before league play begins next week.”
The only other Penguin in double figures Saturday was junior Sirlester Martin with 11 points and nine rebounds. But Martin was just 5-for-18 from the field.
The Penguins shot just 38.3 percent from the field, while the Red Flash (2-4) shot 51 percent for the game after a red-hot first half when they also hit on 71 percent of their 3-point shots. The Penguins shot better from 3-point range (42.1 percent) than they did overall from the field.
The Red Flash, which was led by Mislav Jukic with 15 points, also outrebounded the Penguins 34-32 with Jukic getting 11 for a double-double.
The Penguins led for most of the first 10 minutes, the final time at 17-16 with 8:10 remaining. But then St. Francis hit back-to-back 3-pointers by Devin Sweetney and Cale Nelson, followed by another basket by Marquis Ford to take a 22-17 lead, and never trailed again.
They held their biggest lead with 1:42 remaining in the half 38-24.
The Penguins came out in the second half and whittled away at the lead, but the Red Flash would never let them get closer than two points, 57-55, with 5:02 remaining.
Sulskis hit a 3-point shot with 37 seconds to keep the margin at two 64-62 with 37 seconds left, but Nelson made two free throws with 34.3 seconds to go and Sulskis followed with another 3-pointer with 25.9 seconds to cut the lead to one, 66-65.
Two straight times the Penguins fouled the Red Flash, and first Ford and then Sweetney missed the front end of a one-on-one, but Martin missed a long 3-point attempt with 12 seconds left and then Kelvin Bright missed another shot in the closing seconds as the ball rolled out of bounds.
Officials had to look at replays to see if time was left when the ball went out, but they couldn’t get a conclusive look at the play and the game ended.
mollica@vindy.com