Penguins’ skid reaches four

Staff report

Fort Myers, Fla.

Senior Bobby Hain recorded the 19th double-double of his career with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

Sunday, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped a 79-72 decision to Bowling Green at Alico Arena in the Hilton Garden Inn/FGCU Classic.

The loss keeps YSU head coach Jerry Slocum at 699 career wins. The Penguins have another chance today to lift their coach to a milestone when they play North Dakota in the final day of the Classic.

Hain, who connected on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, also moved into 23rd place on the YSU all-time scoring list with 1,083 career points, passing Phil Gaston who had 1,081 points from 1971-75.

Sophomore Francisco Santiago and junior Matt Donlan each reached double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Penguins, who fall to 0-4.

All of Donlan’s points came from behind the 3-point stripe. The Penguins made a season-high 14 3-pointers, led by Donlan’s four and three from Santiago.

Bowling Green, who improved to 2-2, was led by Wes Alcegaire with 21 points and Zack Denny, who had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Penguins trailed by as many as 12 points, 45-33, early in the second half, but scrapped their way back by scoring seven straight points to get within five, 45-40, with 13:41 left.

Hain hit a 3-pointer, Santiago converted a layup and a layup by Hain sparked the Penguins’ run.

Cameron Morse, who had nine points, converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 13:16 mark to get YSU within, 46-43.

The Falcons built their lead back to eight, but 3-pointers by Donlan and Santiago got the Penguins back to within four, 58-54, with 9:32 to go.

After Bowling Green extended its lead back to 11 with just over five minutes to go, Donlan and Matt Frantz hit 3-pointers to get YSU back to a five-point deficit, 67-62 with 4:23 left.

Frantz hit another 3-pointer with just under two minutes left to get back within five, 72-67, but the Penguins did not get any closer.

Youngstown State jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the first half, but the Falcons scored nine straight points to take an 11-8 lead with 16:38 left and never trailed again.

Over the next 10 minutes, the game was tightly contest and the Penguins trailed by just three, 27-24, after Morse made three free throws with 6:53 left.

The Falcons went on a 12-5 run over the next four minutes to take a 10-point lead and led by nine at halftime, 39-30. Hain’s field goal at the 4:19 mark was their last made basket of the half and the Penguins scored just one point since that point.