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Penguins ousted by UIC, 73-68
Gallery
By Pete Mollica
YSU’s second half rally fell short in the opening round of the Horizon tournament.
YOUNGSTOWN — It’s always pretty tough to beat a team three times in the same season, especially when it’s a good team that has just started playing up to its capabilities.
Youngstown State defeated Illinois-Chicago twice during the regular season when the Flames were struggling.
UIC got its revenge on Tuesday night, holding off a late YSU rally to post a 73-68 victory in the opening round of the Horizon League tournament before 2,629 fans at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins beat UIC for a second time on Feb. 7 in Chicago and since that time UIC has won six of its last seven games, including the last five in a row.
It was a disappointing finish to a disappointing season for the Penguins (11-19), but after struggling through another poor shooting first half they rallied to take their first lead with 5:38 remaining in the contest, led by as many as four points, but faltered down the stretch to end their season.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half and the second half we started playing as a team,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum. “We didn’t play with any passion in the first half and we did much better in the second half.
“We were a much better team at the end of the season than we were earlier in the year,” added Slocum.
The Penguins trailed the entire first half and UIC led by as many as 15 points with 6:44 left in the half (28-13). YSU trailed 35-25 at halftime.
But the Penguins came out ready to play in the second half and with 16:47 left in the game they trailed the Flames by just one point (40-39).
Once again it was the shooting of sophomores Vytas Sulskis and Tom Parks who got the Penguins going. Sulskis had 13 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, while Parks added 12 of his 15 points in the second half, all on 3-point goals.
The Penguins finally got the lead at 5:38 left in the contest when Sulskis hit a 3-pointer for a 59-58 lead and then junior Kelvin Bright followed with another 3 to up the lead to 62-58.
The Flames regained the lead by hitting four straight free throws, but Sulskis was perfect on another 3-point shot to close the gap to 66-65 with 58 seconds remaining.
UIC’s Rob Eppinger, who led the Flames with 20 points, then made a three-point play and senior Josh Mayo added two free throws for a 71-65 lead and Parks’ final 3-pointer just wasn’t enough for the Penguins to pull out the win.
UIC coach Jimmy Collins praised the Penguins after the game.
“They did a great job of mixing their defenses against us,” Collins said. “We played a good solid first 10 minutes tonight and we did a good job on the offensive boards in the second half, but more so we did a good job of keeping Youngstown off the offensive boards. They came in here leading the league in offensive rebounding.
“Early this season when we were struggling it was because we were playing as individuals and basketball is a team game,” Collins added. “These last seven games we’ve played together and that’s been the difference.”
The Penguins, who shot just 32.1 percent in the first half, shot 46.9 percent in the second half. The Penguins were outrebounded 40-30 with Eppinger leading the way with 14 to complete a double-double and 7-foot center Scott VenderMeer added 11 rebounds. Eppinger had seven offensive boards.
UIC, now 16-14 on the year, advances to the tournament quarterfinals on Friday when they will meet Cleveland State at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in an 8 p.m. contest.
mollica@vindy.com