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Moral victory? Forget it — Penguins suffer OT setback
By Joe Scalzo
AKRON
Akron coach Keith Dambrot complimented YSU’s “better belief structure.” Zips guard Brett McClanahan admitted his team “got away with one.” And Penguins coach Jerry Slocum refused to view Saturday’s game as something of a moral victory.
Thanks to McClanahan’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Zips forced overtime and eventually pulled away in the last two minutes for a 91-84 victory at Rhodes Arena, costing the Penguins a chance to win a game in Akron for the first time in a quarter-century.
On paper, you call it a loss. You also call it progress.
“I thought they came in with a better belief structure than they did before,” Dambrot said of YSU. “They really deserved to win in a lot of respects.”
The Penguins (2-1) appeared to be headed toward one of their biggest wins in years when junior guard Devonte Maymon hit a 3-pointer near the right corner with 27 seconds left to give YSU a 77-74 lead. After a timeout, Akron immediately went for the tie, with Darryl Roberts and Steve McNees both missing 3-pointers. But the Zips’ 7-foot sophomore center, Zeke Marshall, grabbed both rebounds, then found McClanahan in the right corner for a fadeaway 3 that hit the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded.
“First and foremost, I was just trying to get a rebound,” said McClanahan, who had 22 points. “Zeke went up and got a ‘man’s board’ and I knew we needed a 3, so I just backpedaled.
“At that point, there’s no thought to it. You just shoot it.”
The Penguins stayed close for the first few minutes of overtime, trailing just 83-82 with 2:28 left. But a layup by McClanahan and a jumper by Marshall gave the Zips a five-point lead. YSU drew within three on two free throws by Devonte Maymon with 40 seconds left, then forced a turnover on the other end. But Vytas Sulskis missed a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left and Akron made four straight free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
“The last thing on my mind is to be happy or satisfied,” said Slocum. “We were one rebound away from winning the basketball game.”
Sulskis had team-highs in points (20) and rebounds (seven), while junior guard Ashen Ward and Maymon each added 14 points. With sophomore Damian Eargle in foul trouble, senior forward Dan Boudler came off the bench to add nine points and five rebounds, battling Marshall better than anyone could have expected.
“I give them a lot of credit,” Dambrot said of the Penguins. “They were tough to guard. We played more zone than we probably have in three years here.
“We couldn’t guard them.”