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Penguins sidelined by Valparaiso in first round
The Times
Photo
Youngstown State's forward Vytas Sulskis (#44) runs into Valparaiso Crusaders forward Kevin Van Wijk (#55) during the game Tuesday night at the Athletics and Recreation Center, Valparaiso, Indiana as the Valparaiso Crusaders hosted the Horizon League Tournament against Youngstown State.
Staff/wire report
VALPARAISO, Ind.
Brandon Wood had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Valparaiso past Youngstown State 80-71 Tuesday night in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.
Valparaiso, the league’s No. 4 seed, will play Detroit on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Horizon tournament in Milwaukee.
The Crusaders (22-10) built a 63-44 lead, but the ninth-seeded Penguins nearly pulled off a big comeback. Kendrick Perry’s basket with 2:47 left cut Valparaiso’s lead to 71-70, but Wood made a pair of field goals and three free throws down the stretch for the Crusaders.
“There’s no perfect world in basketball,” said Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum. “You are going to have your ups and downs in the course of game, and how you handle it is going to determine the outcome.
“We dug ourselves a hole but we really did a great job of coming back. We cut it to [one] then we had three empty possessions in a row. We had two turnovers in a row and a really, really bad forced jump shot.”
Cory Johnson had 15 points and Howard Little scored 14 for Valparaiso.
Damian Eargle had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Penguins (9-20). Perry finished with 16 points.
“Sixteen turnovers on the road isn’t going to get it done,” said Slocum.
Senior Vytas Sulskis and sophomore Blake Allen each scored 11 points. Sulskis ends his career with 1,311 career points which ranks 16th on the Youngstown State all-time scoring list.
In a first half that featured nine ties and six lead changes. the Penguins shot 50 percent but committed 10 turnovers which led to 15 Crusader points.
YSU built a 10-point lead, 20-10, after using a 12-2 run midway through the half. The Crusaders, though, scored the next 12 points to take a 22-20 advantage and held the Penguins scoreless for more than four minutes.
After a 3-point play by Allen and a jumper by Eargle, YSU regained a 25-22 lead at the 7:52 mark.
YSU still led 33-32 with 4:39 remaining but but the Crusaders outscored the Penguins 12-2 to take a 44-35 lead at halftime.