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ysu notebook Basketball news
Home sweet home: YSU plays four of its first five games at home, including the first two: Samford (Nov. 12) and Buffalo (Nov. 16). After playing at Akron, the Penguins return home to play Toledo and Saint Francis. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve never had home games in November,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum, who is 49-100 in five seasons at YSU. “For us to have a bunch of home games, I think that was done intentionally, I think it helps us with a newer group.”
Stats in sight: Senior forward Vytas Sulskis is 81 points shy of becoming the 32nd player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. The last to reach that milestone was John Barber in 2008. He’s also tied for sixth on the school’s all-time 3-point list with 126 and needs 10 more to pass Doug Underwood (2001-04). At his current pace of 42 3-pointers per season, he’ll finish with 168, which would be second all-time. Craig Haese (1997-2001) is first with 198.
Better than advertised: Although YSU finished last in the Horizon League with a 2-16 record last season, the Penguins were more competitive than they appeared. Twelve losses were by 10 points or fewer, including one two-week stretch in February in which YSU lost four straight league games by three points or fewer. “I think we’re close,” Slocum said. “Everybody might see that a little differently than I see it. We came here with a vision of having a program that’s competitive and being in the top half of this league, year in and year out. You give us seven or eight different possessions [last year] and all the sudden you’re fourth or fifth and where you want to be.”
Tough to watch: Sophomore Damian Eargle, who sat out last season after transferring from UNC-Greensboro, said the close losses were frustrating to watch, especially since he felt he could have made a difference in some of those games. “Sometimes you do feel like that, but the thing is, you’re not [eligible],” he said. “You just have to wish for the best.”