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YSU men fall on road to Cleveland State to end regular season
By Marty Gitlin
CLEVELAND
The last basket had just been scored in the Horizon League regular-season finale. Youngstown State then tossed the inbounds pass. And it was stolen by Cleveland State.
An appropriate ending if there ever was one.
The Penguins men’s basketball team produced more turnovers Saturday afternoon than a busy bakery. The result was a 69-55 defeat that plunged them into a tie with the Vikings for eighth place in the conference. YSU has lost seven of its last eight games.
The lopsided 17-7 tally in turnovers didn’t prove to be the only difference. Youngstown State also allowed 19 offensive rebounds to a more active foe underneath the basket. Among the consequences of all those caroms was that Cleveland State made 18 of 25 foul shots to just 7 of 11 for YSU. Penguins coach Jerry Slocum expressed his belief that those factors doomed his team to defeat.
“Any time you put another team at the foul line that many times and any time you give up that many offensive rebounds, you’re not going to beat anyone,” he said. “I’m disappointed with how we played. The quote was, ‘We met the enemy and the enemy was us.’ Our loss was self-inflicted.”
Seven-foot forward Jorden Kaufman proved to be the only efficient Penguin. He managed his third double-double this season by leading the team with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds. Prolific scorer Cameron Morse added 15, but nailed just 6 of 19 from the floor thanks greatly to the stellar defense of counterpart Bobby Word. Their YSU teammates had combined for just four baskets by the time the outcome had been decided.
YSU (11-20, 5-13) did hang around for much of the game. Its deficit was cut to six on a Morse 3-pointer, but a 13-3 Viking blitz stretched their lead to 57-41 with seven minutes remaining. Penguins guard Francisco Santiago, who entered as the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.9 points per game, did not score until the 4:25 mark on a goaltending call. By that time defeat was assured.
“In the first half, we were working inside-out and I was able to score,” explained Kaufman, who made his lone shot after intermission. “But they took me away in the second half. They were guarding me extra hard so we couldn’t work the ball into me. It was hard for us to get into the flow.”
The Penguins could not find their offensive rhythm at any point. They shot a respectable 40 percent from the field in the first half, thanks greatly to a 6-for-9 effort from Kaufman, but nine turnovers and 1-for-9 shooting effort from beyond the arc prevented them from making a strong run. It was no wonder that Cleveland State (9-21, 5-13) led from the first few minutes to the final horn.
An effective interior defense allowed YSU to stay close. The Vikings yanked down eight offensive rebounds before halftime and often drove successfully to the hoop, but often failed to convert.
The Penguins did manage to prevent an explosion from premier scorer Rob Edwards. The Cleveland State guard hit just 4 of 16 shots from the field, but connected on 11 of 14 at the line to lead both teams with 20 points.
The Vikings made just one more basket, but took 14 more shots than Youngstown State due to offensive rebounds and turnovers. At least Slocum knows what his Penguins must work on heading into the Horizon League Tournament, which begins March 3. He hopes they’re more successful than they were in preparing for CSU. YSU will learn their first-round opponent after today’s Oakland-Milwaukee game.
“Those are things we worked on all week,” he said. “Rebounding and taking care of the basketball. Obviously, I’m disappointed.”