43
Penguins cruise in home finale vs. NKU
By Steve WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
On Friday around 1 p.m., Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum thought of an idea: get injured forward Bobby Hain (out for the season) announced in the starting lineup on his Senior Night on Saturday.
“So I called the official, I called the [Horizon] League,” Slocum said. “I was on the phone saying, ‘We have to make this happen.’”
It did happen, as Hain — who just had the walking boot removed from his broken left foot on Wednesday — was announced as a Penguins starter during pregame introductions.
Hain didn’t play at all, but it gave YSU a spark, helping the Penguins to a 94-75 win against Northern Kentucky at Beeghly Center in their regular season finale.
“When he told us he was gonna suit up and they were gonna call him in the starting lineup, we were happy — like, ‘Yeah, let’s go,’” sophomore point guard Francisco Santiago said. “It was just like old times — Bob has battled with us and been there through the whole thing.
“So he gave us a couple words before we came out there — a little bit emotional — and I think that kind of drove us.”
YSU (11-20, 6-12) had five players finish with double-figure points — Cameron Morse (25), Santiago (15), Jordan Andrews (17), Sidney Umude (16) and Matt Donlan (15) — as it finished at 52 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the Penguins held the Norse (9-20, 5-13) to just 37-percent shooting.
“Everybody was efficient,” Santiago said. “Nobody shot the ball poorly. We all shot it really well.”
Added Slocum: “We guarded better. As good as we’ve been offensively, if we can guard, we can have some success.”
YSU jumped ahead by 19 points at halftime as it held the Norse to just 29-percent shooting. The Penguins shot 51 percent in the first half, as Morse (13), Donlan (10) and Umude (10) all reached double figures.
However, that big lead shrunk quickly.
NKU went on an 18-5 run in the first five minutes of the second half to trim YSU’s lead to 51-45. The Penguins answered, though, pushing their advantage back to 12 points at the eight-minute mark and never letting the Norse threaten again.
“I said, ‘In the first five minutes [of the second half], let’s just not have a turnover,’” Slocum said. “And we had two turnovers and two missed foul shots.
“But the maturity of the group is when they got on the floor for two loose balls during that stretch and ‘Cisco made great passes for drive-and kick-out 3’s and it went from five points back to 11.”
The Penguins gained revenge on the Norse, who beat YSU by 20 points on Jan. 14.
With the win, YSU clinched the No. 7 seed in the Horizon League conference tournament. The Penguins will match up with no. 6 Detroit on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit (the host site of the entire tournament).
Hain averaged 12.4 points per game this season before breaking his foot in YSU’s final non-conference game on Dec. 21. He will finish his Penguins career with 1,187 points (21st on YSU’s all-time scoring list) and 679 rebounds.
“That was a big win for us — you may ask, ‘Why?’” Slocum said. “Bobby Hain means the world to me. It was a tough day from when I woke up at 6:45 in the morning, until I just gave that kid a hug in the locker room. I wanted this win probably more than any one we’ve had this year. And I wanted it for that dude.”