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YSU tops Loyola in OT for 1,000th men’s basketball win
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Youngstown State’s Blake Allen drives around Denzel Brito of Loyola during Thursday’s game at Beeghly Center. YSU won 68-64 in overtime.
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
After spending most of the night staring at his shoes whenever one of his players attempted a free throw, Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum made sure to deliver a message to senior DuShawn Brooks in the closing seconds of Thursday’s game.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Make one of them!”
Brooks took the advice literally, missing the first before swishing the second with 12 seconds left to clinch a milestone 68-64 overtime victory over Loyola at Beeghly Center.
It was the 1,000th win in YSU history. It gave the Penguins (8-6, 3-1) their best start in Horizon League play since ... well, ever. And maybe most important, it proved they could win the type of close game they’ve lost so many times in the previous two seasons.
“This is my fourth year in the Horizon League and I’ve been through plenty of games like this,” said senior Ashen Ward, who scored a season-best 21 points. “A lot of them on the opposite end.
“We went into the [overtime] saying that they gave us five extra minutes to prove we were supposed to win this game in the first place.”
In a game that featured 15 lead changes, the Penguins’ defense stiffened in key moments, forcing two missed shots in the closing seconds of overtime (by each of Loyola’s two best players, no less) before holding the Ramblers to just two points over the final 2:55 of overtime.
“I thought that we battled,” said Slocum, whose team made just 10 of 23 at the line. “Obviously it wasn’t a pretty game but I told the kids going into overtime, ‘Hey, listen, Horizon League basketball is physical. It’s not pretty.’”
Damian Eargle added 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Penguins, who were coming off an emotional win over league-favorite Cleveland State on Saturday. Kendrick Perry added 13 and Blake Allen 11 as YSU got 66 of its 68 points from its five starters.
The game’s key play may have come midway through the overtime session when Loyola’s best player, junior Ben Avercamp, was hit with an offensive off-the-ball foul, his fifth.
With Avercamp out, YSU was able to send help on senior forward Walt Gibler, who was blocked twice by Eargle and was picked on a baseline steal by Ward, all in the closing minutes.
“It’s tough to stop two bigs,” Ward said. “To know that there’s only one down there, you can give a lot of extra help and that’s really what we did.”
Avercamp scored 23 points but the last two came on a jumper with 8:17 left. Gibler had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Ramblers (5-10, 0-5), who dropped to 0-7 when giving up 60 points or more.
“Defensively, we did a really good job over the last five or six possessions,” Slocum said. “I’m disappointed in some regard to know who their two best players are and for them to dominate. One dominated the first half, the other dominated the second half.
“But the other side of that is, our last three minutes I thought we got some great stops.”
YSU improved to 1,000-1,024 all-time, with the first win coming on Jan. 14, 1928 — a 36-16 victory at Clarion.
“I was alive when that first game came up,” joked Slocum. “I’m proud of YSU. I’m proud of what Youngstown is to the Valley.”
Slocum is 66-127 in his seven years at YSU, so he went out of his way to praise Dom Rosselli, who won 589 games from 1940-1982.
“On a night when you get your 1,000th, you cannot not remember him and what he did for basketball and what he did at YSU,” Slocum said.