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Free-throw woes down Penguins
By Jon moffett
YOUNGSTOWN
OK, that one hurt.
The Youngstown State men’s basketball team did just about everything they could to win yet another close game against a Horizon League opponent. But pesky nuisance reared its ugly head again to prevent a win.
The Penguins shot 4-of-16 from the free-throw line and could have used some of those points in a 73-69 loss to Detroit as part of a doubleheader with the women’s team at the Beeghly Center on Saturday.
The Penguins (7-12, 1-8 Horizon League) rank at the bottom of the conference in free-throw shooting with 62 percent. The Penguins shot just 43 percent against Detroit.
When asked if the poor performance from the line was the biggest reason for the loss, coach Jerry Slocum offered little more than a scowl.
“That’s a good deduction,” he said.
Senior guard Vytas Sulksis elaborated, saying the missed opportunities make it hard to keep up with the good teams in the conference.
“Game after game, we keep losing at the foul line,” he said. “We keep missing them. We work hard on them in practice and we shoot them on our own. They’re just not going in.”
Sulksis, who had a team-high 15 points and five rebounds, said there are a few factors that make the shots more difficult in a game situation.
“Probably a little bit of fatigue, a little bit mentally,” he said. “But we’re Division I college athletes. We need to knock them down. It’s on us. The coaches work with us in practice and us players need to knock them down.”
The Penguins looked like they had the game won on several occasions. But the combination of the Titans’ size and athleticism stifled several runs. The Titans (11-10, 5-4) had two players on their roster who were listed at 6-foot-10, and another at 6-foot-11. Slocum said their height provides the Penguins with one of their toughest matchup.
“This is probably one of the toughest-matched games that we have,” Slocum said. “I feel like if we had played this aggressively and this hard on Thursday [in a loss to Wright State] I think it’s a win. And that’s the consistency that I’m fighting for every day.”
The size of the Titans was evident in several facets.
The visitors dominated the boards, pulling down 45 rebounds — 37 of which were defensive — to YSU’s 34. Detroit also scored 38 points in the paint to the Penguins’ 20, taking only 16 shots from long range. YSU was 11-of-32 from deep.
Slocum said the team’s effort was not the reason it came up short. He said the team played hard enough to win, but was at a disadvantage from the start.
“You can have as much heart as you want, but when they’ve got that kind of size on you [you’re in trouble],” he said. “But I thought our guys battled pretty good.”
The Penguins have now played every conference foe once. Slocum hopes the second time around is better.
The Penguins will start a two-game road trip in Chicago, Loyola on Thursday at 8 p.m. followed by UIC on Saturday at 4 p.m.