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Hain’s foul trouble hurts YSU in loss to Kent
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
No Hain, no gain.
Youngstown State’s men’s basketball team gave rival Kent State everything it could handle for 35 minutes but couldn’t overcome poor shooting or a foul-plagued game from Bobby Hain in a 69-61 defeat to the Golden Flashes in the season opener Saturday night at Beeghly Center.
“I thought we did some very positive things,” Penguins coach Jerry Slocum said. “The glaring thing we did not do well is, we did not shoot the basketball well.”
YSU shot just 2 of 18 from the 3-point line and missed 13 of 26 free throws in losing to Kent for the seventh straight time. Overall, the Penguins were 23 of 62 from the field.
Hain, a 6-foot-10 junior, scored 17 points to go with five rebounds but played just 21 minutes before fouling out with 6:42 left and the Penguins trailing 61-54.
“Being what I think is our best player, he’s got to be smarter than that,” said Slocum, who felt Hain picked up several “unforced” fouls, particularly one late in the first half. “That’s going to be a maturing process for him.”
YSU actually got within five, 62-57, with 6:11 left before going scoreless for nearly five minutes. The Penguins went 0 for 10 over that stretch.
YSU finally broke the drought on a free throw by D.J. Cole with 1:28 left, which made it 68-28.
“I felt like we played well enough to win the game,” senior forward Shawn Amiker said. “We just didn’t execute down the stretch.”
The loss overshadowed a career night from Amiker, who posted team-highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) for his first career double-double. Amiker has played in nearly 100 games in his YSU career but after starting 19 of 33 games in 2012-13, he came off the bench for all but four games last season.
With his starting role assured, Amiker blossomed into one of the team’s best players through offseason workouts and practices and that strong play continued on Saturday.
“Shawn, he’s been our best player through all of our scrimmages and all of the fall,” Slocum said. “He’s one of the guys that’s been very, very consistent. He’s a tough, tough matchup for everybody because of how quick he is.”
Added Amiker: “I just came out and played the best that I could. It wasn’t good enough to win the game.”
Jimmy Hall scored 14 points and Kris Brewer and Devareaux Manley each added 12 points for the Golden Flashes, whose bench outscored YSU 26-5. The Penguins are in their first year without standout guard Kendrick Perry and were starting two new guards in junior Shaun Stewart (a transfer) and sophomore Marcus Keene (who started one game out of 22 last season).
Two other players (Sidney Umude and Osandai Vaughn) made their YSU debuts, while sophomore Jalon Plummer saw his first significant action.
The Penguins aren’t going to overwhelm anyone size-wise, but their speed and athleticism gave Kent State problems at times.
“We’re smaller, so we’re faster,” said Amiker, one of just two starters over 6-feet. “Speed kills. We’ve got a bright future.”