Sunday, January 29, 2017
youngstown
In a game that saw both sides jump out to sizeable leads which then evaporated, a series by Francisco Santiago and Brett Frantz was the defining moment in a 67-64 win for Youngstown State over Cleveland State at Beeghly Center on Saturday night.
With YSU leading 60-57 with 3:00 to play, Cleveland State freshman guard Kasheem Thomas stole the ball from Frantz and looked to be clear to the bucket until Santiago came out of nowhere to block the layup at the rim.
Ten seconds after the steal, Frantz hit a 3-pointer that put the Penguins up six, and made fans yell louder than YSU head coach Jerry Slocum said he’s ever heard Penguin fans.
“This goes back to the Butler win,” Slocum said. “I’m not sure I ever heard our crowd louder than they were after that play.”
Cameron Morse led the Penguins (10-13, 4-6 Horizon League) with 23 points while Frantz scored 17. Demonte Flannigan led the Vikings (6-16, 2-8 HL) with 16 points. YSU held CSU to just 39.1 percent shooting overall.
“We guarded really well,” Slocum said. “We did a great job defensively. We did a great job guarding [Rob] Edwards, who I think is one of the premier guys in the league.”
The Penguins shot 50 percent from the floor which helped make up for shooting just 10 of 19 from the free-throw line and allowing 12 offensive rebounds.
CSU jumped out to a 14-2 lead initially as the Penguins turned the ball over four times before the first media timeout. But Frantz then got going, scoring 10 of YSU’s first 12 points, ending the half with 12.
The Penguins went into halftime up 33-29 and didn’t let up at the start of the second half. Cleveland State didn’t score for the first 4:31 of the second half as the Penguins built a 15-point lead.
But over the next 12 minutes that lead shrunk. CSU got the deficit down to one with 4:30 to play before a layup by Morse and Frantz’s defining 3-pointer.
“When we were in the zone we did a good job stopping them,” Frantz said. “But then they made a few adjustments and starting hitting a few 3s.”
The Vikings again got the lead to two with 1:16 remaining before missed free throws gave CSU one final chance in their final possession. But Bobby Word’s long 3-pointer came up well short.
“I thought we held our composure pretty good,” Slocum said. “They’re a well-coached team that’s not going to let you run away. We fought back and did a good job holding our own.”
Now the Penguins welcome in Oakland (15-7, 5-4 HL) on Feb. 2. Slocum likes the Golden Grizzlies.
“This is a really important time for us,” Slocum said. “Oakland — I keep on fearing on them waking up. I think they have the most talent in the league. They have really good perimeter players and inside guys. They’re the most balanced team in the league.”