Big night for YSU’s team, fans

Way back in October, when the Youngstown State men’s basketball team began workouts, coach Jerry Slocum talked about the great balance he had on this year’s team.

Slocum said then that the Penguins wouldn’t have a player who would score 30 points in a game, but he felt that he had four or five who would score between 10 and 15, and he also felt that he had a great bench for the first time in his four years with the Penguins.

Well, it took 18 games, but Slocum finally got his Penguins to produce the way he felt they should have been playing all season long.

Friday night before an unbelievable crowd, the Penguins defeated Cleveland State, 64-60, and they did it with a balanced scoring attack, great defense and good support off the bench. And to top things off, they did it before an ESPNU television audience.

Four players scored in double figures for YSU, ranging from 10 to 18 points, and although the Penguins got just eight points from the bench, they got strong minutes on both ends of the court from it. Slocum only went eight deep and his rotation worked perfectly.

There was no doubt that the veteran coach, now in his 34th season and with 616 career wins, outcoached his opponent, Gary Waters.

But let’s talk about the crowd.

I never thought it possible to get over 6,000 fans into Beeghly Center to watch a team that had struggled through most of its first 17 games, and had produced just five wins in the process. But they came and they kept coming in until Beeghly was almost filled to its capacity of 6,500.

It was the fourth-largest crowd in YSU history, and since I didn’t see the other top three games, I can’t compare the turnout. The record of 6,571 was set in 1986 against Cleveland State, and two games against Akron (which plays at YSU tonight at 7:05) had crowds of 6,339 in 1987 and 6,320 in 1984.

Not only was Friday’s crowd huge, but it was a lively bunch and it really got into the game. The YSU students, more than I’ve ever seen before (close to 1,000), all were decked out in white shirts that the school provided, and there even were a few painted students who roamed the isles to cheer the team to victory.

Getting all those fans to the game was one thing, but winning it and putting on a tremendous effort was another. All I could think about as the game began was if the team fell apart and disappointted the crowd, they’d never come back.

There was definitely no disappointment and most of the fans were still in their seats, more likely standing and shouting, as the game concluded.

Slocum was impressed and lauded associate athletic director Rick Love and his staff for an unbelievable job.

Like I said, getting all those fans to the game was no easy project.

Love and his staff worked very hard for more than two weeks. They did get some help from the Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce, and used their contact list to e-mail everybody on it for help.

“It was unbelievable,” said Robb Schmidt, Assistant AD for marketing and promotions. “We were still sending out e-mails and they were being returned requesting tickets.”

Then there were the students.

Schmidt said that the YSU athletic department went to all the student dorms on campus asking students to attend, and the response was overwhelming.

“This whole effort was a tremendous thing and the effort that Rick and his staff put forth was unbelievable,” said YSU athletic director Ron Strollo.

“Our entire football team met over at the stadium and then came over as a body and cheered the Penguins on,” he added.

“It certainly didn’t hurt that we just happened to have 14 football recruits on campus, and they were here to witness this amazing event,” Strollo said.

Strollo had been concerned before the game that the Penguins wouldn’t be able to put the fans in the seats, and it could have been embarrassing with a national television audience.

As it turned out his worries were for naught. Now if they just keep coming.

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