Foul shots carry YSU over UIC

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

CHICAGO — The Youngstown State men’s basketball team never shot a free throw until the final four minutes of the game Saturday night.

But then the Penguins made 7-of-8 at the line in the final 58 seconds to beat Illinois-Chicago, 68-60, their first victory in the UIC Pavilion.

The win gave the Penguins a two-game sweep in the Windy City as they also defeated Loyola on Thursday night, 60-49.

Oddly enough the Penguins blew a 21-point first-half lead when they connected of 10-of-13 3-point shots before allowing the Flames to come back and tie the contest 52-52 with 7:39 remaining in the game.

But the Penguins answered with an 11-0 run and rebuilt the lead to 63-52 with 2:49 remaining and then closed out the Flames with some accurate free throw shooting at the end.

“They [UIC] came out in a zone defense and we were ready for them,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum. “They gave us the open shots early and we made them.

“This was two great wins on the road and to play with that same intensity both nights was just unbelievable,” he added. “I thought that we really battled to overcome a lot tonight.”

One of the things the Penguins had to battle was the free throw shooting of UIC, which made 23-of-28. But the Flames shot poorly from the field, making just 16-of-52, while the Penguins finished 25-of-56, including 12-of-22 on 3-pointers.

Sophomore Tom Parks, who had a team-high 15 points, was a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range and his final two came at the end of that 11-point second-half run that opened up the game.

Sophomore Vytas Sulskis added 13 points and junior Sirlester Martin added 10 including 4-of-4 at the line in the final seconds.

The last time the Penguins won back-to-back road games in the league was in 1998 when they were members of the Mid-Continent Conference.

The Penguins (8-15, 5-8) had lost 10 straight games at the Pavilion and the win also gave the Penguins a series sweep against UIC as they had won 80-70 in Youngstown on Jan. 8.

UIC (10-13, 3-10) which suffered its fifth straight loss, was led by senior Josh Mayo, the league’s top scorer, who finished with a game-high 18 points.

The Penguins return home to meet Green Bay on Thursday night at 7:05 at Beeghly Center.

Women lose 20th

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A shorthanded and undersized YSU women’s team fell 78-51 to Milwaukee at the Klotsche Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Penguins (2-20, 0-11), playing without their top two scorers, Nikita LaFleur and Tiara Scott, had only two post players in uniform.

Camisha Alexander scored a career-high 17 points as the only player to reach double figures for YSU.

The Penguins were well within reach for the first 30 minutes before Milwaukee (10-12, 5-6) went on a 17-7 run over the next seven minutes.

LaFleur was out with an injury, and Scott was attending the funeral of a family member. Rachael Manuel and Ashley Pendleton, YSU’s only two players over 5-foot-8, were only in the game together for a few minutes.

Senior forward Traci Edwards, the Horizon League’s top scorer, took advantage by scoring 21 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven blocks. Three other players scored in double figures for the Panthers.

YSU was held to 27.3 percent shooting while Milwaukee shot 48.5 percent overall and 60.7 percent in the second half. The Panthers outscored YSU 38-14 in the paint and held a 52-35 rebounding edge.

Youngstown State will play at Cleveland State on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.