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Loyola-Chicago Penguin beater
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YSU's Kelvin Bright (14) drives the ball hard through Loyola's Justin Cerasoli (24) Saturday January 10, 2009
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YSU Jack Liles (50) gets blocked by Loyola's Aric Van Weelden (12) and Darrin Williams (55) Saturday January 10, 2009
By Pete Mollica
Youngstown State was led by Kelvin Bright’s 22 points in the 68-57 loss at Beeghly Center.
YOUNGSTOWN — After playing one of their best games of the season earlier in the week, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team couldn’t sustain that effort on Saturday night.
In what YSU coach Jerry Slocum called a “pitiful effort,” the Penguins lost 68-57 to Loyola of Chicago at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins (5-10, 2-4 Horizon League), who beat Illinois-Chicago, 80-70 on Thursday, never led after making the opening basket Saturday and were overwhelmed by some outstanding 3-point shooting by the Ramblers (10-7, 2-3).
Loyola connected on 10-of-15 3-point shots, including five in a row during a second half stretch, while on the other hand the Penguins went 0-for-14 from outside the arc.
“It was a pitiful effort on our part tonight,” Slocum said. “I saw it coming in practice yesterday, there was no intensity at all.
“We did not play well tonight in any facet of the game,” he added. “Yes, Loyola shot very well tonight, but we had a lot to do with that. We did a poor job of switching off and left them wide open for most of those shots.”
Once again the Penguins were led by senior Kelvin Bright, who tossed in 22 points, while senior Jack Liles came up with another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Other than the big difference in 3-point shooting, the Penguins held their own against the Ramblers. YSU was 21-of-53 from the field, while the Ramblers were 22-of-46. Loyola outrebounded the Penguins, but by just 34-32 and the Penguins were 15-of-21 from the charity stripe and Loyola was 14-of-25.
“We lacked mental toughness tonight,” said Bright. “We never really got into the game and that was our fault.”
The Penguins held their own throughout most of the first half.
After taking the early 2-0 lead they fell behind 10-4. Two straight baskets by Bright tied the game at 12, but the Ramblers then took control the rest of the half with its biggest lead 28-20 with 1:45 left. The Penguins trailed 28-22 at the intermission.
The Penguins cut the lead to 31-28 on another basket by Bright and then matched the Ramblers basket for basket over the next four minutes, but the Penguins were making two-pointers and Loyola was hitting 3-pointers, three of them by Marcus Thomas.
Aric Van Weelden finished the game 4-for-4 from behind the arc, while Thomas was 3-for-4.
But the Penguins did battle back.
First it was a save by junior Dallas Blocker who threw to a wide open Sirlester Martin for a basket and then sophomore Vytas Sulskis followed with a steal and a slam dunk and junior DeAndre Mays scored on a jumper with 6:21 remaining as the Penguins tied the contest at 48.
But another 3-pointer by Van Weelden sparked the Ramblers on a 13-4 run over the next two minutes as Loyola enjoyed a 61-52 lead.
Down the stretch the Ramblers connected on seven free throws, five of them by Justin Cerasoli, to put the contest away.
The Penguins will return to action Thursday night when they travel to play Milwaukee in an 8:30 p.m. tip off and then will remain in Wisconsin to take on Green Bay next Saturday in an 8:05 contest.
mollica@vindy.com