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Penguins douse Flames to earn first Horizon win
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SEASON HIGH: Youngstown’s State’s Vytas Sulskis (44) shoots over UIC defenders Jeremy Buttell (33), Spencer Stewart (25) and Anthony Kelley (20) during the first half of Thursday’s game at Beeghly Center. Sulskis tied a season-high 17 points in the Penguins’ 76-67 win over the Flames.
Junior Vytas Sulskis tied a season-high with 17 points and Zack Rebillot had a career-high 11 rebounds for YSU.
By JOE SCALZO
Vindicator sports staff
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State men’s basketball coach Jerry Slocum walked into the interview after Thursday’s game, took a look at the TV set in the corner and joked, “Oh, you guys would rather watch the [BCS title] game, huh?”
Minutes later, after Penguin junior Zack Rebillot finished his interview, teammate Vytas Sulskis joked with him by saying, “Wow, that was amazing. You guys are going to make me go now after this amazing interview?”
Sulskis got his share of ribbing too. YSU representative Jamie Hall forced him to take out his earrings before appearing on camera. Hall later joked he was going to buy his 12-year-old daughter the same pair.
Five days earlier, the Penguins were at their lowest. Thursday, they were relaxed and joking.
It’s funny what a win can do.
Behind 17 points from Sulskis — a noted Illinois-Chicago killer — and a career-high 11 rebounds from Rebillot, the Penguins earned their first Horizon League victory, dousing the Flames 76-67 in front of about 300 hearty souls (including one wearing shorts) at Beeghly Center.
“Obviously, getting good wins helps builds your confidence,” Slocum said. “The locker room’s a lot happier, the coaches are a lot happier.
“That’s how you start to gain some momentum.”
Coming off their worst effort of the season, a 70-48 drubbing at home against Cleveland State on Jan. 2, the Penguins (6-8, 1-4) played with good energy from the start. The Penguins held the Flames scoreless for the first five minutes and opened up an 18-6 lead in the first nine minutes.
The Flames battled back, drawing within four, 39-35, at halftime. UIC briefly held the lead early in the third quarter and it looked like the game could be slipping away, but YSU regained the advantage, 51-49, with 12:30 left and never lost it.
Although the last two minutes were more interesting than they should have been — YSU saw a 71-60 lead with two minutes left turn into a 72-67 lead with 25 seconds left — the Penguins went 4-for-4 from the line to close it out.
“Ability-wise or talent level-wise, you know people are going to make a run back at you,” Slocum said. “For them to come back and go up by four and have all the momentum and for us to come back and take the lead and play well [is terrific].”
Sulskis, a reserve who tied a season-high in points, averaged 14 points per game in three meetings against the Flames last season. His career-high of 26 points came two years ago against UIC.
All this from a player who’s averaging 10.1 points per game this season.
“I can’t tell you [why]; I just come out and play hard,” said Sulskis, when asked to explain his success against UIC. “It just happens that it’s UIC every time.”
Sulskis went 3-for-3 behind the arc to spark an 8-for-13 performance on 3-pointers for YSU. The Penguins also went 18-for-20 from the free throw line — they had been making 68 percent from the line — and out-rebounded UIC 37-28.
“Wow,” said Slocum, when told of the 3-point numbers. “How about that, huh?”
Sulskis credited extra work in practice for the shooting success. Slocum said his players “worked their tails off” the past three days, following up their worst loss of the season with their best.
When asked if Slocum screamed at practice this week or if the players simply knew they needed to respond, Rebillot broke into a grin.
“A mixture of both,” he said, drawing laughter. “He definitely told us what we did wrong and was very valid about the points he was making, but even if he wouldn’t have said anything we knew exactly how we played and we knew we didn’t play up to the caliber we should have played.”
The only negative for YSU was a monster night for UIC’s senior, Jeremy Buttell. The 6-foot-7 forward scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He had been averaging 8.4 per game with 6.4 rebounds.
But the Penguins did a nice job on junior guard Robo Krebs, who needed 14 shots to score 13 points — 2.7 below his average — and held the other three starters to four points apiece.
Now YSU turns its attention to Loyola (11-4, 2-4), which plays at Beeghly Center on Saturday night.
“Last week all the home teams won on Thursday and lost on Saturday in the league,” Slocum said. “You get to enjoy your Thursday night win about as long as it takes to drink a cup of coffee.”
scalzo@vindy.com