YSU gives Milwaukee its best

January 21, 2012 at 12:01a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The night began with a question mark and ended with an exclamation point.

The first half ended with a flourish and the second half finished with a flush.

And the best crowd of Youngstown State’s season (so far) was treated to the Penguins’ biggest win of the season (so far).

Thanks to a huge putback by senior Ashen Ward in the closing seconds, followed by a monster block by Damian Eargle, YSU’s men’s basketball team knocked off the Horizon League’s top team, 68-66, Friday at Beeghly Center.

“That’s exact- ly what we wanted to do,” said junior Blake Allen, who scored a career-high 27 points. “We’ve been pretty good at home, even dating back to last year, and it’s something we take pride in.

“We knew we’d have to bring it for 40 minutes and we did that.”

When the teams played in last season’s regular season finale, YSU lost in overtime after Eargle missed a last-second tip-in at the end of regulation. That loss gave Milwaukee the regular season title.

This time, YSU owned the final minutes, holding the Panthers scoreless over the last 1:57.

With the game tied at 66, YSU sophomore Kendrick Perry missed an open 3-pointer with 35 seconds left but Ward grabbed the rebound underneath and scored on a five-foot putback in traffic.

After a Milwaukee timeout, Kaylon Williams (who scored 15 of his 18 in the second half) missed a 3-pointer and Tony Meier’s follow-up 3 was blocked by Eargle with four seconds left.

With the crowd on its feet, Allen grabbed that rebound and fed it upcourt to Kendrick Perry, whose two-handed slam may not have beat the buzzer but certainly added to the buzz, as the announced crowd of 2,845 celebrated a victory in front of a national audience on ESPN3.

“That’s the game, you know?” Allen said of Ward’s shot and Eargle’s block. “We’ve been in a lot of close games all year and we stayed calm, stayed patient and executed on offense as well as defense and made plays at the end.”

Eargle finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks and spent the final guarding the 3-point line, using his length and timing to keep the Panthers from getting a clean look off the pick-and-roll.

“There’s no other five [center] in the league that can guard guards like he can,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum. “In my mind, he played as good a game defensively as he has in a Youngstown State uniform.”

Ward added 13 points and Perry had nine, but the big story was Allen, who made all seven of his shots in the first half — including six 3-pointers — and finished with 22 points. After making his last 3 of the half — a contested jumper off the dribble with five seconds left — he backpedaled downcourt, shaking his head, as if to say, “The only thing stopping me is halftime.”

YSU (10-8, 5-3), which trails Milwaukee and Valparaiso by a game in the league standings, improved to 6-1 at home and become the fastest team to win 10 games since the 2000-01 squad.

When asked if his team got some momentum after an 0-2 road swing last week, Slocum said, “I don’t know. Did we have a lot of bad momentum [coming in]?

“I’m not a rearview mirror guy and I think I’ve gotten our guys to understand that, too. It’s not about what’s behind you, it’s about what’s ahead of you.”