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PENGUIN POWER
By Jon Moffett
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DOUBLE-TEAMED: Youngstown State’s Sirlester Martin (5) and Vance Cooksey (4) defend against Michael Glasker (1) of North Carolina Central during Wednesday’s game at the Beeghly Center. YSU won the game 70-57.
Ball control and smart shots were the keys to victory, the coach said.
YOUNGSTOWN — Earlier in the season Youngstown State men’s basketball coach Jerry Slocum said in order for his team to succeed, it must have a strong sense of pride when playing at home.
The Penguins (8-12) did so by defeating North Carolina Central University 70-57 on Wednesday at the Beeghly Center.
The win ended a four-game losing streak.
“We did the things that you have to do to win basketball games,” Slocum said. “I thought that we shot the ball well, and when it got to be important parts of the game I thought we made our free throws ... I thought we were patient, we didn’t rush anything and we kept our composure.”
The Eagles (4-18) have not won a road game this season.
Slocum said the key to the victory was the team’s ability to shoot better than it had in its last few games. The Penguins shot 41.1 percent (23 of 56), but shot 81 percent from the free throw line (17 of 21).
Four Penguins scored double-digit points Wednesday. Senior guard DeAndre Mays led the team with 17 points. He also had eight assists.
Also scoring in double digits were seniors Sirlester Martin and Kelvin Bright, who each had 13. Behind them was junior Vytas Sulskis, who finished with 11.
“This win was real big for us,” said Martin, who was one rebound shy of a double-double. “I mean, we’ve been struggling the past couple games and this game could get us ready for the league game coming up Saturday.”
The Penguins also had 18 assists, which Martin said was proof the team was seeing the floor well.
“We just played good team ball,” he said. “We made the extra pass when we saw someone open and we swung the ball around and got someone open for an open shot.”
The Penguins led went on an 11-0 run midway through the first half to put them up by nine. YSU led 32-21 at halftime.
NCCU shot 56.4 percent from the field (22 of 39), but only 58.8 percent from the line (10 of 17). The Eagles also had 20 turnovers, which killed key possessions.
The Penguins had only 11 turnovers in the game and Slocum said the team remained focused and composed, even when the Eagles cut the lead to four midway through the second half.
“We saw multiple defenses tonight; it’s not an easy team to play against,” he said. “They played 1-3-1, they played a 2-3, they played a 3-2, they trapped on the first pass man-to-man. It’s not an easy team, in terms of that stuff, to prepare for over the past couple of days.”
Slocum said the two main elements to winning, as evident Wednesday, were shooting well and not turning over the ball.
“Empty possessions and not taking care of the ball is just huge,” he said. “You look at one game last week and [the opponent] had 22 points off our turnovers and another time they had 18 points off our turnovers. That right there is two wins if you control and take care of the ball.”
The Eagles scored only seven points off of Penguin turnovers.
jmoffett@vindy.com