Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tipoff: Tonight, 7:05 p.m., at Beeghly Center.
Records: YSU 2-2, Geneva 1-1.
Radio/TV: WKBN-AM 570; MyYTV (tape delayed at 10 p.m.)
Coaches: Jerry Slocum (Kings College ’75) is in his fifth season with the Penguins. He is 43-80 at YSU and 623-405 in 35 career seasons. Jerr Santarsiero (Nyack, ‘83) is in his 15th season as head coach of the Golden Tornadoes with a 213-184 record. Santarsiero was Slocum’s assistant when he was head coach at Geneva.
YSU starters: DeAndre Mays, 6-2 senior guard (9 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game); Sirlester Martin, 6-7 senior forward (10, 5); Kelvin Bright, 6-4 senior guard (9, 1); Vytas Sulskis, 6-7 junior guard (11, 3.3); Dallas Blocker, 6-9, senior forward (2.3, 4).
Geneva starters: Rich Colick, 6-5 junior forward (21 ppg., 9.5 rpg.); T.J. Bevilacqua, 6-5 sophomore guard (12 ppg., 6 rpg.); Dave Phillips, 6-3 sophomore guard (6 ppg., 2.5 rpg.); Brandon Harvey, 5-9 senior guard (14 ppg., 2.0 rpg.); Svingos Lambros, 6-6 sophomore forward (8.5 ppg., 7.5 rpg.).
Outlook: The Penguins are coming off an impressive 68-56 win over St. Peter’s N.J. last Saturday on the road. Leading the win was a 21-point performance from Bright, who was the team’s leading scorer a year ago but has struggled early this season. The Penguins are 1-1 at home, beating Hiram and losing to Kent State. The Golden Tornadoes opened their season last weekend splitting two games at home. They defeated PSU-New Kensington 78-60, but lost to Marymount 91-81. Monday, Geneva lost to Baldwin Wallace, 88-76.
The series: This will be the 50th meeting between the two teams, with the Penguins holding a commanding 30-19 edge. The two teams haven’t met since the 1971 season when the Penguins posted a 97-74 victory. YSU has won the last 13 straight games and 22 of the last 23. Geneva’s only win during that span came in 1949 with a 70-64 victory in a game played at Hiram. The series dates to the 1930s.
Up next: The Penguins will begin a five-game road trip on Saturday when they invade nationally ranked Pittsburgh for a noon start. The Penguins then will begin Horizon League play on Dec. 3 at Detroit and Dec. 5 at Wright State. They also will play at Saint Francis, Pa., on Dec. 16 and then another league contest at Green Bay on Dec. 19.
Pete Mollica