Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
YSU's Ashen Ward, RIGHT and BGSU's A'uston Calhoun go for a rebound during first half action Saturday.
GAME TIME
Thursday — YSU vs. Green Bay, 7:05 p.m.
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
With 5:30 left in Saturday’s game and the YSU men’s basketball team clinging to a four-point lead, freshman guard Kendrick Perry got the ball on the left side of the court, just behind the 3-point line, with sophomore Jordan Crawford, Bowling Green’s 5-foot-6 sprite of a guard, in front of him.
He pumped, Crawford jumped and Perry leaned in to get bumped, hoping to get the call.
He didn’t. So, at the last second, Perry hoisted an off-balance jumper that banked in.
Then, looking at no one in particular, he gave off a little shrug.
“It’s about time we got one of those,” Penguins coach Jerry Slocum said afterward. “We’ve had enough of those go against us, it’s nice to finally get a break.”
Playing with poise down the stretch, the Penguins snapped a four-game losing streak with an 83-76 win in an ESPNU BracketBuster game at Beeghly Center.
It was one of the most complete efforts of the season for YSU, which shot 50 percent from the field and got double-digit scoring efforts from four different players.
“I thought there were two major factors in that game,” Slocum said. “I thought we took care of the ball great and I thought we did a great job in the second half defensively.
“You’re not gonna find too many games across the country where you post 24 assists and six turnovers.”
Perry had career-bests in assists (nine) and steals (five) to go with seven points, while Ashen Ward led the way with 23 points and six rebounds — both team-highs.
Ward was coming off a rough game against Detroit where he made just 2 of 13 shots and said he spent extra time in the gym to try and regain his confidence.
“I think this was one of our better team effort games,” said Ward, who shot 8 of 14 from the field and 6 of 11 on 3s. “A lot of my shots I didn’t create for myself; other guys were creating for me.
“When we play together like that, we can be pretty good.”
Vytas Sulskis scored 17 points, Damian Eargle had 15 and DuShawn Brooks scored 10 off the bench for YSU (9-18), which is 3-2 against Mid-American Conference teams this year. The Penguins defeated Buffalo and Toledo and lost on the road to Akron (in overtime) and Kent State.
A’uston Calhoun scored 16 points and Scott Thomas added 13 points and 14 rebounds for BGSU (12-15), which shot just 39 percent from the field in the second half after making 20 of its first 30 shots. The Falcons were also hurt by a 6 of 15 performance from the free throw line.
YSU held its biggest lead — 79-68 — with 2:14 left before the Falcons made things interesting.
Luke Kraus hit two straight 3-pointers and Scott Thomas added a layup to cut it to three, 79-76, with 28 seconds left.
But YSU guard Blake Allen went 4 for 4 from the line down the stretch to close it out.
“It’s been tough to be in so many games and to be on the opposite side,” said Ward, whose team has lost . “It feels good to be that team that gets that the stops at the end and makes the free throws at the end to win the game.”