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YSU men look to build on Butler effort
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
YSU Sophomore Guard Blake Allen
PREVIEW
Matchup: YSU (6-9) vs. Wilberforce (2-11).
Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
Radio/TV: WKBN-AM (570); Horizon League Network
Coaches: YSU — Jerry Slocum 54-109 at YSU, 635-434 career; Wilberforce — Geoff Warren.
YSU starters: Blake Allen (4.9 points per game, 1.8 rebounds per game, 1.7 assists per game), 6-1 sophomore guard; Ashen Ward (8.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 apg), 6-3 junior small forward; Devonte Maymon (9.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.8 apg), 6-2 junior guard; Vytas Sulskis (14.5 ppg, 5.7 rebounds per game, 2.2 apg), 6-7 senior power forward; Damian Eargle (8.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.9 blocks per game), 6-7 sophomore center.
Wilberforce starters: Christopher Olafioye (20.9 ppg), 6-3 junior guard; Tim Giles (11.4 ppg), 5-9 senior guard; Thomas Wilson (5.1 ppg), 5-8 junior guard; Ronald Hightower (11.8 ppg), 6-4 junior forward; Patric Perdue (4.3 ppg), 6-6 junior center.
Series history: YSU 2-0. Last meeting: YSU won 108-72 in 1976.
Notebook: This is YSU’s second game against a NAIA Division II team. The Penguins defeated Malone 78-62 on Dec. 13. ... Allen tied a career-high with 17 points in Sunday’s loss to Butler, matching the 17 he scored in the Penguins’ loss to Valparaiso Thursday. ... Eargle leads the Horizon League with 2.9 blocks per game. ... Wilberforce is coming off a 111-102 loss to Point Park. The nine-point loss is its closest in five American Mideast Conference games.
Next game: YSU plays host to Cleveland State Saturday at 7:05 p.m. It is the first of three straight home conference games.
Vindicator staff report
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
On Sunday, the YSU men’s basketball team showed what can happen when it plays hard for 40 minutes.
Sophomore guard Blake Allen would like to see more of it.
“I think that’s been something we’ve struggled with a little bit this year in not being able to compete for an entire game,” Allen said. “I think we definitely showed ourselves something, that we can compete with anybody in this league and can be one of the better teams in this league.”
Allen tied his career-high with 17 points in an 84-79 loss at Butler on Sunday as the Penguins gave last year’s national runners-up everything it could handle. Unfortunately, it was still a loss as the Penguins (6-9) dropped to 1-5 in Horizon League play.
“This is definitely a very tough league,” said Allen, a Tampa, Fla., native who spent last season at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma. “I know me, personally, I’m very surprised at the level of competition on a night-in, night-out basis. There’s no nights off. We have to come to play every night.
“We have pretty much a brand new team and it’s definitely been an adjustment for us. I think we’ll be a lot better in the future.”
YSU coach Jerry Slocum inserted Allen into the starting lineup before the Valparaiso game and he responded, scoring a career-best 17 points in the 79-55 loss. After matching that mark against the Bulldogs, it might be awhile before he begins another game on the bench.
“I definitely thought as a team we competed very hard and fortunately for myself I was able to get a few shots to fall,” Allen said of the Butler game. “But obviously we’re not satisfied with losing and we felt we should have won the game.”
In addition to his hot shooting — he’s making 43 percent of his 3-pointers this season — he’s also taking care of the basketball. Allen leads the Horizon League with a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ration (26 to 8).
The Penguins begin a four-game homestand tonight against NAIA-member Wilberforce (2-11) and Allen said it’s important not to overlook the Bulldogs.
“We need to get every win that we can possibly get,” said Allen, whose team is 6-1 at Beeghly Center this year. “We treat them as we treat everybody else that comes in here.
“We take great pride in defending our home court and I feel like we’ll continue to do that [tonight].”
After Wilberforce, YSU plays 10 straight league games, with the first three at home. Allen said the Penguins need to win those games to get back into the league conversation.
“It’s definitely very crucial that we come out and perform well and get these wins at home,” he said. “We have a certain comfort level at home.
“I think we’ll be ready to go.”