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For starters, YSU rolls past GB
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
Five minutes into Tuesday’s Horizon League tournament opener, Youngstown State sophomore guard Kendrick Perry had already thrown down a dunk and Green Bay coach Brian Wardle had already thrown down a clipboard.
By then, Perry had 12 points and Wardle had heartburn.
Not a bad start.
Not a bad finish, either.
Putting together what YSU coach Jerry Slocum called “the most complete game we’ve played this year,” Youngstown State won its first postseason tournament game in three years, refrigerating the league’s hottest team en route to a 77-60 victory in front of nearly 3,000 fans at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins (16-14) will play Detroit (18-13) at 6 p.m. Friday in a second round game at Valparaiso.
“There comes a point in time where you get tired of losing in the first round,” said junior forward Damian Eargle, who had 17 points and nine rebounds. “Hopefully we can keep it going.”
The seed for Tuesday’s performance was planted Sunday afternoon. YSU had lost a close game to Detroit just hours before and faced a tight turnaround for the tournament opener.
Slocum’s team could have been tired and testy. Instead, it was feisty and focused and the attitude carried over into Tuesday’s game.
The Penguins led by double digits for more than 30 of the game’s final 35 minutes.
“I told them after practice Sunday night, ‘I am so freaking proud of you guys,’” said Slocum. “We were jacked and ready.
“I went home and said, ‘I’ve never been more confident about a game coming up.’ Because those dudes were locked.”
Green Bay entered the game on a five-game winning streak, a stretch that started with a 71-65 home win over the Penguins on Valentine’s Day. YSU senior DuShawn Brooks had a particularly rough time that night, scoring just two points on 1 of 6 shooting.
Tuesday was a different story. Brooks scored 12 points in the first half, finished with 16 and played terrific defense at power forward, using his athleticism to frustrate Green Bay center Brennan Cougill — whose 6-foot-9, 265-pound frame is three inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than Brooks.
When asked if he was motivated by the Feb. 14 loss, Brooks said, “It was in my mind, but at the end of the day I knew I needed to play defense for my team, help us out, do the little things and my offense would come to me sooner or later.
“It worked out good for me.”
All five starters scored in double figures for Youngstown State, which is guaranteed its first .500 season since 2000-01 — its final season in the Mid-Continent Conference.
Perry, a first-team all-conference selection on Monday, scored 15 points with three steals, senior Ashen Ward (who, like Brooks, was playing his final game at Beeghly Center) had 14 points and Blake Allen scored 11.
When asked why things worked so well on Tuesday, Slocum chuckled and said, “If I could bottle it, if I knew, I’d putting it an every-game thing.
“I think at this time of year maturity shows. I think being in a lot of big games. I mean, they just played good.”
Green Bay’s 7-foot-1 sophomore Alec Brown, a second team all-league choice, was the Phoenix’s lone bright spot, scoring 20 points with nine rebounds.
Freshman point guard Keifer Sykes — an all-newcomer selection — had nine points on 3 of 11 shooting with six turnovers, thanks in large part to Perry’s defense.
Now the Penguins must keep the momentum going as they play the league’s most talented — and, at times, most perplexing — team.
“It was good to get the win and make it known that we are a good team and that we can actually go out and try to win the Horizon League,” said Brooks.