Poor shooting creates YSU loss

February 14, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

By STEVE WILAJ

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum took a quick look at the final stat sheet following Saturday night’s 64-59 loss to Cleveland State at Beeghly Center and came up with a simple math equation.

“Fifteen turnovers, shooting the basketball 35 percent and 65 percent from the foul line equals a loss,” Slocum said. “Very disappointed in our game.”

Those were the most important final numbers for YSU (9-17, 4-9 Horizon League), as the Vikings (8-18, 3-10) avenged a Jan. 24 loss to the Penguins. Demonte Flannigan led CSU with 30 points, while sophomore guard Cam Morse paced YSU with 18 points.

In the first contest, YSU notched its best defensive game of the conference-season by holding Cleveland State to 55 points. The Penguins defense was solid this time around as well — the Vikings shot 46 percent overall and 27 percent from 3-point range — but YSU’s offense struggled from the start.

“You’re not gonna shoot 35 percent in your own building and win,” Slocum said. “I wish it could be. I thought we guarded better and did a pretty good job defensively down the stretch when we could have closed it.”

YSU trailed just 40-34 early in the second half.

The Penguins then fell behind by nine points with nine minutes remaining, before cutting it to 57-52 with 3:04 to go.

A minute later while trailing 59-53, YSU had its best chance to make a final run, but Matt Donlan missed a 3-pointer and, after an offensive rebound, committed a turnover with 1:27 remaining.

Donlan banked in a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left, although Cleveland State’s lead was never really in question. Flannigan connected on two free throws to ice the contest.

While YSU shot 16 of 25 from the foul line for the entire game, the Penguins went just 12 of 20 in the second half. They also missed 5 of 6 free throws during the stretch run while attempting to climb back in the game.

“If we made 4 out of the 6, it’s a one-point game going into that last media timeout [at the 3:39 mark],” Slocum said. “You can’t do the things that we did and win basketball games.”

Sophomore point guard Francisco Santiago tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds for YSU, while freshman guard Jordan Andrews also finished with 13 points.

However, the Penguins’ three big-men — Jorden Kaufman (junior), Devin Haygood (freshman) and Bryce Nickels (freshman) — combined for just six points on 3 for 7 shooting and 12 rebounds.

“That’s something that we’ve struggled with — either scoring, rebounding or defensively,” Slocum said of his big-men. “It’s hard to believe — I mean, give the kid [Flannigan] credit, he had 30 — but they didn’t do anything that we hadn’t prepared for.

“This is as disappointed as I’ve been since I’ve been here. “

YSU fell behind, 32-21, after the first half. The Penguins shot just 33 percent in the first 20 minutes — including just 1 for 11 from behind the arc. Morse picked up two early fouls and sat for nine minutes, while Flannigan scored 16 first-half points.

“Cam got a couple quick fouls and that’s probably the first time all year we had to play without him for significant minutes,” Slocum said.

YSU ends its four-game homestand on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. against Illinois-Chicago. The Penguins defeated UIC, 82-78, on Jan. 28.