Sunday, March 17, 2013
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State men’s basketball team will host former Mid-Continent Conference rival Oakland in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Tuesday at Beeghly Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m.
This is the Penguins’ first trip to the postseason since joining the Division I ranks in 1981-82. The last time Youngstown State played in the postseason was the 1976-77 NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Penguins posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since since 1985 with a 17-15 record and finished tied for fifth in the Horizon League with a 7-9 mark.
YSU coach Jerry Slocum said the Penguins are honored to be playing in the postseason tournament and are facing a quality opponent.
“We are excited to still be playing basketball and honored to host a first round game in the CIT,” Slocum said. “Oakland is a very good program and we will have to play with a lot of focus and intensity to be successful against them.”
Junior Kendrick Perry, an All-Horizon League First-Team selection for the second straight season, leads the Penguins with 16.7 points per game.
Senior Damian Eargle, the Horizon League’s Defensive Player of the Year, is averaging 11.7 points per game and ranks eighth in the country with 3.17 blocks per game.
Oakland (16-16) finished fourth in the Summit League with a 10-6 record and is making their fifth consecutive postseason appearance, advancing to the CIT Final Four in 2012.
Leading the Golden Grizzlies is led by junior Travis Bader with 21.9 points per game. Bader
leads the country with 134 3-pointers made and has converted a three in an NCAA-best 52 straight games.
This will be the ninth meeting Youngstown State and Oakland and the first in 10 years. The Golden Grizzlies lead the all-time series 5-3, including the last meeting, 70-67, on Dec. 20, 2003.
The Penguins last win over Oakland was a 75-70 victory on Feb. 22, 2001, at the Beeghly Center.