‘Horrific’ second half dooms YSU against Wright State

January 9, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

After getting outplayed in the first half by Youngstown State, Wright State men’s basketball coach Billy Donlon focused on giving his team hope at halftime.

“I did not go in there and take the paint off the walls,” said Donlon, whose team was down by nine points at Beeghly Center. “The first thing I told them is, ‘Fellas, we just played a really bad half but Youngstown didn’t do their job. We should be down 25. They let this game be winnable, so you can decide if you want to win it.’”

The Raiders spent the next 20 minutes playing like a team that knew its identity.

The Penguins played like a team still searching for one, falling 70-61 on Thursday in their Horizon League home opener.

“Just a horrific half of basketball,” YSU coach Jerry Slocum said. “The sad thing about it is it is three games in a row where we have not handled the second half very well.

“The sun doesn’t always shine. When a little trouble comes our way, which is part of college basketball, we don’t handle it.”

The Penguins (9-9, 0-3 Horizon) shot 2 of 17 from the field to start the second half and allowed their offensive struggles to affect their defense. The Raiders (10-7, 2-1) shot 72 percent from the field (13 of 18) in the second half, while YSU made just 7 of 27 shots.

“Not making shots led to some bad defense in the second half,” Slocum said. “The thing that’s discouraging for me is, our margin of error is so short with this group.

“We can have guys play a bad game, but they can’t play a horrific game.”

Senior Shawn Amiker had a horrific game (at least offensively), going 0 for 8 from the field and finishing with two points and four fouls, but the Penguins didn’t really get above-average performances from anyone but sophomore Marcus Keene (17 points) and junior Shaun Stewart (13 points off the bench).

Junior J.T. Yoho had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Wright State, which improved to 40-10 all-time against the Penguins. Michael Karena had 15 points and Chrishawn Hopkins had 13.

Wright State led by as many as 18 points in the second half, holding the league’s second-highest scoring offense to a season-low 61 points. (YSU, which was averaging 73.6 points per game, also scored 61 in an opening loss to Kent State.)

“We have an identity,” said Donlon. “When we go recruiting, the thing other coaches tell us is ‘You’re a team that’s really hard to play against. Your kids are really tough.’ That’s our identity.”

Slocum would like to see his team adopt that identity.

“I think that’s the M.O. of this league,” said Slocum, whose team plays at Green Bay on Sunday. “I think that’s what separates this league from other leagues.

“I think that we’re a new team and I don’t think that we’ve even come close to understanding that the sun’s not going to shine all the time. You’re not going to play a perfect game, you’re gonna make mistakes, you’re gonna miss some shots and it’s got to be on to the very next possession, the next play. [You can’t] pout or mourn that ‘I didn’t do something well.’”