League play on Horizon for men’s team

Photo by: Geoffrey Hauschild

The Vindicator (Youngstown)

Photo

YSU's Damian Eargle lines up a shot while being guarded by Buffalo's Jawaan Alston (32) during a game at YSU's Beeghley Center on November 16, 2010.

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Damian Eargle set the career blocks record at Warren Harding, led the Southern Conference in blocked shots as a freshman at UNC-Greensboro two years ago and now leads the Horizon League in blocks.

So, what’s his secret?

“I think I just have a knack for it,” said Eargle, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward at YSU. “It’s just all about timing — getting somebody on help defense and just taking it down, really.”

So his super-long arms don’t help?

“That, too,” he said, laughing. “But it’s mostly timing.”

Eargle’s defensive prowess will get tested this weekend against one of the Horizon League’s best post players when the Penguins (4-1) open conference play at Milwaukee on Thursday.

Senior forward Anthony Hill is averaging 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game this season for the Panthers (3-4), who were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon’s 10-team preseason poll.

“Obviously it’s going to be a great test for us,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum, whose team will stay in Wisconsin through Saturday night’s game at Green Bay. “Hill, I think he’s as good a post player as there is in our league in terms of scoring the basketball.”

Eargle has been tested inside a few times already this year, including the Penguins’ only road game, a 91-84 overtime loss to Akron on Nov. 20. Eargle played his worst game of the season that night as he struggled with foul trouble against the Zips’ 7-foot center Zeke Martin.

But he rebounded over the next two games and has been a big reason for YSU’s hot start, averaging 6.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game this season.

“We’re playing good as a team,” Eargle said. “Nobody cares about points on this team. We just want points to win. We’re all happy when everybody scores.

“Defense-wise, too, there’s a lot of help defense. The chemistry is so amazing. We all want to see each other do good.”

Three YSU starters are averaging double digits in scoring, led by senior forward Vytas Sulskis’ 17 per game. YSU’s depth — 10 players were averaging at least 10 minutes per game before guard Sheldon Brogdon quit the team — and scoring balance will come in handy over the next few weeks as YSU prepares to play five of its next six games on the road.

“I think we’re pretty ready,” Eargle said. “We did good in Akron, which is a tough [Mid-American Conference] team.

“It’s something we have to learn as a young team. I’m actually happy we get the chance to play back-to-back games against real good teams, just to help us learn.”