YSU beats RMU for fourth straight win
Guard play
helps YSU
get to .500
By DAN HINER
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State’s young backcourt showed up in the Penguins’ 65-58 win over Robert Morris on Wednesday night.
Starting guards Francisco Santiago and Bret Frantz both scored in double-digits. Santiago scored 12 and Frantz had 10 and. YSU registered 17 assists and eight turnovers. This was the second consecutive game the Penguins recorded 17 or more assists and less than 10 turnovers.
YSU (4-4) team jumped out to an early 20-10 lead over Robert Morris with 9:59 remaining in the first half. Forward Matt Donlan scored 14 of the Penguins’ 31 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers.
“Again, I’m pretty sure we only made two out of our first 10 or 11 shots, but we didn’t have any turnovers against their zone,” YSU head coach Jerry Slocum said. “And then we went out and made three out of four from their 3-line. I thought the tempo was good. Offensively, I thought we were patient — I think we took maybe one or two bad shots tonight.”
The Penguins are at .500 for the first time this season with their fourth straight win after an 0-4 start.
Robert Morris (1-7) was able to turn things around offensively in the second half. The Colonials scored seven points off turnovers in the second half — allowing Robert Morris to pick up the pace of the game and push the ball down the court in transition.
The Colonials outscored the Penguins 35-34 in the second half, but the YSU frontcourt was able to limit the Colonials’ second-chance points and dominated the paint, forcing Robert Morris to attempt 19 shots from behind the arch.
“We worked the ball a lot. We passed the ball a lot today,” Donlan said. “I thought that we moved the ball, got great shots and I thought their zones kind of allowed us to find great shots and I thought we found those.”
Forward Bobby Hain finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
“I thought that obviously we had a height advantage. At the half, they clearly they tried to take that away from us and I thought our wings would be a little more open,” Slocum said. “They do a really good job in their zone. It doesn’t have to be that close it we make some foul shots. Again, I thought we did a really good job at the defensive end. I don’t know how many they scored. I think that’s the third game in a row now that we’ve held a team under 40 in terms of field-goal percentages, and I thought we had a lot of good energy — positive energy — tonight.”
Said Donlan: “That’s just kind of how our team works. If they collapse on the guys down low, then our perimeter game opens up. If they want to press out on the perimeter, then of course we could throw it down low to Bob — I mean he’s going to take care of it.”
Slocum said despite the Penguins’ play over the past four games, he still thinks the young players on the roster have room to improve. But he thinks the team is moving in the right direction.
“Obviously when you’re 0-4, to be 4-4 is a positive. To be able to win four in a row ... again, I think with this group it’s a process,” Slocum said. “We’re definitely getting better every day, we’re getting better in practice, the guys’ attitudes are getting where they understand, I think, how to play a little bit better. So we’re clearly not where we want to be but we’re definitely seeing improvement and that’s a positive for me.”