Weber’s career-high 24 points not quite enough for YSU

Staff report

Valparaiso, Ind.

Youngstown state sophomore Ryan Weber scored a career-high 24 points with four 3-pointers, but a late run by Valparaiso handed the Penguins a 68-66 defeat at the Athletics and Recreation Center on Saturday.

Weber connected on nine of shots and led four Penguins in double figures. Senior Kamren Belin scored 14 points while senior Kendrick Perry had 12, and sophomore Bobby Hain posted his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

YSU fell to 15-14 overall and 6-8 in the Horizon League.

Valparaiso (17-12, 9-5) made eight second half 3-pointers and was led by Alec Peters’ 22 points and LaVonte Dority’s 15. Peters made four of the Crusaders’ eight 3-pointers after halftime.

Bobby Capobianco’s 3-pointer with 59 seconds left gave Valpo a 68-66 lead, and after the teams traded turnovers, Perry’s game-winning 3-point attempt was just off.

The Penguins owned a 57-50 lead after a 3-pointer and two free throws by Perry and a jumper by Belin with 9:14 to go.

Valparaiso, which made 10 3-pointers, went on an 11-2 run, keyed by two 3-pointers by Peters and Capobianco’s first trey of the night, to take a 61-59 lead at the 5:06 mark.

D.J. Cole tied the game with a pair of free-throws, and after a dunk by VU’s Vashil Fernandez, Weber buried his fourth 3-pointer of the game to put the Penguins ahead, 64-63, with 2:22 remaining.

Hain’s layup regained the lead for the Penguins with 1:16 to go before Capobianco’s eventual game-winning 3-pointer.

Three times in the first half the Penguins led by as many as nine points. The Penguins first used an 11-2 run to break a tie at 6 and took a 17-8 lead 10 minutes before the half. Hain, Weber and Belin each hit jumpers, then Perry added two free throws and a 3-pointer to force a Crusaders timeout with 10:11 to play in the half.

The Crusaders cut the deficit to two before a layup by Hain, a 3-pointer by Weber and a dunk by Hain extended the YSU advantage to nine, 24-15, with 5:24 left. After a Keith Carter jumper, two free throws by Weber restored the nine-point edge, 26-17, at the 5:01 mark.

The Penguins led 32-30 at halftime.

The Penguins play their final regular-season road game of the year Tuesday when they visit Cleveland State at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.