YSU takes Butler to wire

Staff/wire reports

Indianapolis

Youngstown State tied a school single-game record with 14 3-pointers and had Butler on the ropes in the final minutes before falling, 84-79, in a Horizon League game on Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Sophomore Blake Allen tied a career-high with 17 points, making five 3-pointers, to lead the Penguins (6-9, 1-5 Horizon).

Ashen Ward added 15 points for YSU, while Devonte Maymon scored 13 and senior Vytas Sulskis had 10 points and eight rebounds.

“We definitely played for 40 minutes against a really good team and we were in a position to win the game,” said Allen. “Our guys were shooting the ball with confidence and knocking down shots. It got contagious in the second half.”

The game featured 14 lead changes and 12 ties, with the last coming with 1:24 remaining in the game when Maymon converted a three-point play to make it 79-all.

A tip-in by Andrew Smith gave the Bulldogs an 81-79 lead, and the Penguins had three chances to tie the game but couldn’t convert, and Butler scored its last three points at the free-throw line.

“I thought our kids played very hard against a very good Butler basketball team,” said Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum.

“Our team showed a lot of character. We faced some adversity late in the game and our guys responded well.”

YSU trailed 48-39 early in the second half but went on a 22-5 run to lead 61-53 with just under 11 minutes remaining.

The Bulldogs rallied, scoring eight straight points to tie the game, and led 72-66 with 7:15 to go.

But the Penguins went on a 10-2 run, thanks to two 3-pointers by Ward and one by Allen, to lead 76-74 with 4:07 remaining.

Shelvin Mack answered witha 3-pointer and layup to give Butler a 79-76 lead before Maymon’s three-point play.

“We were able to move the ball well and we found the open man against a team that plays pretty good perimeter defense,” said Slocum.

Mack scored 28 points and Matt Howard added 26 before fouling out for Butler (12-5, 4-1 Horizon).

The Bulldogs have won 10 straight against YSU, which has lost three straight and fell to 0-8 on the road this season.

YSU sophomore Damian Eargle moved into a tie for third on the single-season blocks list with 44. He tied David Brown, who had 44 in 1999-2000.