The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Penguins Defense Prevails
By Steve Porter

In their next-to-last road game, the Penguins traveled to Kentucky to take on Northern Kentucky. The first half was 20 minutes of back-and-forth play. Midway through the half the Norse made a run that put them ahead by 9 points, but the Penguins came right back and closed the gap. The half ended with the two teams tied 39-39. Troy Fingelton scored 21 points for Northern Kentucky in the half. Top scorer for YSU was Linehan Murphy with 9 points.

Youngstown State came out with a staunch defense in the 2nd half that allowed them to gradually edge ahead of the Norse. Coach Durst played a deep bench to keep fresh legs on the floor and wore down Northern Kentucky. The Penguins forced the Norse to make 23 turnovers and won the game 78-69.

PG Linehan Murphy scored 13 points. C Jamal Grady had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and had 3 steals and 2 blocks. C Kent Jones came off the bench with Grady in foul trouble to score 10. For Northern Kentucky, C Troy Fingelton scored 27 points but could only manage to pull down 3 rebounds.

“We knew this was going to be a tough road game and that Northern Kentucky would be gunning to take us down. So we changed our game plan completely from the last time we played the Norse,” said Coach KD Durst. “Rather than focusing on Fingelton to keep his scoring down as we had in the previous game, we instead decided to limit the rest of the team and did that effectively. While Jamal didn’t keep up with Fingelton’s scoring, he outplayed him on the boards and kept the rest of the Norse from scoring inside. And we got good play and production from all 7 players on our bench.”

With Milwaukee falling to Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Penguins now have a 2-game lead in the Horizon League.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Clawed by Panthers
By Steve Porter

Last night’s game against Milwaukee had a little less relevance since Youngstown State had a 2-game lead over the Panthers.
The Penguins started strongly and led 25-14 midway through the first half but Milwaukee reeled them back in and cut YSU’s halftime lead to 38-34. Jamal
Grady scored 14 points to lead the Penguins in the first half.

The Panthers clamped down on the Penguins when the 2nd half started and pulled ahead to lead 60-47 with 9 minutes to play. The Penguins turned things around and made steady progress to reduce that lead. With 1:33 to go, Milwaukee’s lead was reduced to 69-68 when Linehan Murphy scored on a slashing drive to the hoop. But the Penguins were unable to put another point on the board and lost 73-68. The loss ended the Penguins 12-game win streak and cut their league lead to a single game.

C Jamal Grady scored 22 points and grabbed 13 boards plus also had a steal and 3 blocks. PG Linehan Murphy added 10 points.

Coach KD Durst said, “While we didn’t play badly, Milwaukee played a heckuva game. They put us in a hole in the early stages of the 2nd half which was just too deep for us to crawl out of. You know, I hate to lose but maybe this was good for us in two ways. First, if we’d won we may have felt like we could slack off in our last 3 league games since we would have had the championship wrapped up. And second, it shows us we have to play our best each and every game and this will be particularly true when the Horizon League Tournament rolls around.”

C Jamal Grady again earned Horizon League Player of the Week honors. In the Penguins two games this past week, Grady scored 34 points, pulled down 24 rebounds, and had 4 steals and 5 blocks.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Light Up The Scoreboard
By Steve Porter

In their final home game of the season, the Youngstown State Penguins exhibited their best offensive output of the season for their growing legion of fans. The Penguins romped over the Detroit Titans 99-80.

YSU scored first and rapidly built a 16-7 lead. The centers from both teams, Jamal Grady for the Penguins and William Rogers for the Titans, both began dumping in points. By the end of the half Grady had 16 points and Rogers had tallied 11. The Penguins hit 61% of their shots and held a 52-38 halftime advantage.

Youngstown State’s offensive onslaught continued in the 2nd half and they were never seriously threatened as they drubbed the Titans. The Penguins hit 59% of their shots and 54% of their 3’s during the entire game plus held a 34-22 rebounding advantage over the Titans.

C Jamal Grady finished the game with 26 points. PF Aaron Tice tossed in 16 points while grabbing 7 boards. PF Rich Bramwell hit for 15 plus pulled down 7 boards as the Penguins scored 52 points in the paint. PG Tim Lostetter added 11.

“I’m glad we got back on track tonight and that we gave our hometown fans a good show in our season finale here in Youngstown,” said Coach Durst.

The Penguins improved their league record to 14-3 and held onto their one-game lead over Milwaukee for the top spot in the Horizon League. They close out the regular season when they travel to Cleveland to take on Cleveland State Thursday night.

[PointGuard]

Penguins are Horizon League Champs
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State’s first half against lowly Cleveland State was close all the way with 12 lead changes and 6 ties. The Penguins came out of the half with a scant 35-33 lead. C Jamal Grady led their attack with 14 points.

YSU hung onto a small lead the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half and then exploded by going on a 17-4 run. As they worked their patented inside game to perfection the lead grew to 21 points. Coach Durst substituted heavily at the end of the game but the Penguins still won with ease, 80-68. YSU outshot the Vikings 56% to 41% and held a 35-28 rebounding advantage.

C Jamal Grady finished with 25 points while PG Linehan Murphy scored 10. PG Josh Griffin scored 20 points for Cleveland State.

With the victory, the Penguins finished their regular season with a record of 20-7 and finished atop the Horizon League with a 15-3 record.

Milwaukee finished 2 games back after losing at Detroit 64-63 as the Titan’s SF Garvin Moore hit a baseline jumper with 3 seconds on the clock. Troy Fingelton of Northern Kentucky scored 35 in the Norse’ 77-60 loss to UIC.

[Wayne23]

Has a PG led team EVER had a 20 win season? The apocalypse is upon us!

[PointGuard]

LOL...oh ye of little faith...you just think not. But there have been many 20+ win seasons in other associations. But after a few of those type seasons, I just tend to move on to another low-level school.

And...in the old, old, old times there used to be national championships, but I never move up to a team of that quality anymore.

[PointGuard]

Final Standings for Horizon League 2018-2019 Season

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament-Day 1

#10 Oakland (7-20, 5-13) vs #7 Northern Kentucky (12-15, 7-11): This game was a barn-burner from the opening tip off until the very end. There were a total of 25 lead changes and 12 ties. At the break, Northern Kentucky led 43-38. The 2nd half was just as close as the first had been and the game was hanging in the balance until the very end. With Oakland on top 86-85, the Norse brought the ball down court and worked it into their primary scoring threat, Troy Fingelton in the key. Fingelton turned and put up a shot but Oakland’s Chris Lovett went up and blocked the ball and into the hands of teammate Jarod Wolfe who heaved it up court to a racing Dante Lay who in concert with his name drove for an uncontested layin. With 9 seconds remaining, the Norse took a last second 3 but it was off the mark giving Oakland an 88-85 victory. SG Josh Angner and PG Dante Lay both scored 21 for Oakland. PG Kevin Young hit for 24 and C Troy Fingelton scored 20 for Northern Kentucky.

#9 Wisconsin-Green Bay (11-16, 6-12) vs #8 Wright State (12-16, 7-11): The first half of this game was as close as the preceding game with 16 lead changes and 10 ties. Wright State had a 43-39 edge at the half. Wisconsin-Green Bay totally shut down the Raiders’ offense in the 2nd half and raced away to an easy 82-60 win over Wright State. SF Randy Kurtz was blisteringly hot for the Phoenix, scoring 30 points. Leading scorer for Wright State was SF Jonathan Bakken who scored 13.

Horizon League Tournament-Day 2

#5 Valparaiso (12-15, 8-10) vs #4 Detroit (17-10, 9-9): Valparaiso held a lead throughout most of the first half, but the lead began to switch back and forth toward the end of the half. Valparaiso had a 41-39 advantage at the break. The game see-sawed back and forth early in the 2nd half, but Detroit’s shooting got hot and they edged ahead, taking as much as a 9 point lead. Valparaiso tried to come back but fell short and Detroit came away with an 83-78 win. Detroit C William Rogers and reserve guard Mills Ellis both chipped in 17 points. The Crusaders were led by PF Chris Wesby and PG Jack Roy who both scored 15 points.

#6 Cleveland State (11-16, 8-10) vs #3 UIC (16-12, 12-6): Last season’s tournament-surprising Cleveland State pulled off yet another upset. The Vikings looked bad in the first half and trailed UIC by a score of 47-34 at the break But Cleveland State completely turned things around in the 2nd half and steadily chipped away at the Flames’ lead. The Vikings finally gained a lead with 3:25 remaining and held on to beat UIC 77-73. C Jeremy Hackett popped in 19 points to lead Cleveland State’s attack. The top scorer for UIC was C Dan Davis with 16 points.

#10 Oakland (8-20, 5-13) vs #2 Milwaukee (15-12, 13-5): Oakland and Milwaukee kept the score close throughout the first half with Oakland coming away with a 39-38 halftime advantage. The first portion of the 2nd half stayed tight, but then Milwaukee hit a series of 3’s and pulled away for an 82-74 win over Oakland. PF Ryan Watson had a double-double (23 points and 12 rebounds) for Milwaukee. Oakland was led by SG Josh Angner with 18 points.

#9 Wisconsin-Green Bay (12-16, 6-12) vs #1 Youngstown State (20-7, 15-3): C Jamal Grady scored the first 8 points for the Penguins but they still only led 8-7. Midway through the half, YSU had carved out a 27-16 lead with PF Rich Braswell picking up the scoring load when Grady went to the bench to some rest. The Penguins held a double-digit lead throughout most of the half, but in the late going, the Phoenix cut into the lead and got within 5 points. Youngstown State came away with a 55-48 halftime advantage by hitting 62% of their FG attempts. C James Grady scored 15, PF Rich Braswell hit for 12, and PF Aaron Tice scored 10 for YSU while SG Ross Lang notched 14 for Wisconsin-Green Bay.

The Penguins held onto a solid lead throughout the 2nd half but the Phoenix would continued to stay in striking distance. Youngstown State held on to win 93-83. PF Rich Braswell scored 19 points, C Jamal Grady knocked down 18 points while grabbing 9 rebounds, and PF Aaron Tice and PG Tim Lostetter both scored 12 for the Penguins. SG Ross Lang scored 21 and dished out 9 assists for the Phoenix.

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament-Semi Finals

#6 Cleveland State (12-16, 8-10) vs #As2 Milwaukee (16-12, 13-5): The lead flip-flopped back and forth throughout the first half with Milwaukee coming away with a 30-29 edge at the half. But in the 2nd half, Milwaukee shot just a little better than the Vikings and that proved to be the difference as the Panthers gradually pulled away. The final score: Milwaukee-68, Cleveland State-55. Milwaukee’s offense was led by PG Corsley George who finished with 21 points. SG Reggie Hemphill scored 12 for the Vikings.

#4 Detroit (18-10, 9-9) vs #1 Youngstown State (21-7, 15-3): SF Chad Delzell dropped in 7 points and the Penguins led 15-6 after 7 minutes of play. They expanded their lead to 36-15 with 5 minutes remaining in the half. Hitting 59% of their shots and making just 1 turnover, the Penguins cruised to a 48-27 halftime lead. C Jamal Grady scored 10 to lead YSU’s scoring.

Youngstown State let up in the 2nd half allowing Detroit to cut into the lead in the latter stages of the game, but there never was a serious threat. The Penguins knocked off Detroit by a score of 89-75.

For Youngstown State C Jamal Grady scored 22, PF Aaron Tice added 15, and PG Tim Lostetter and SG William Swan both scored 12. C William Rogers led Detroit’s scoring with 23 points.

Horizon League Tournament Championship

#2 Milwaukee (17-12, 13-5) vs #1 Youngstown State (22-7, 15-3): A matchup of the two best teams in the league. Each team beat the other on their opponents’ court during the regular season.

The Penguins turned the ball over 5 times in the first 4-1/2 minutes, but only trailed 6-5. With YSU on top 18-11 at the 10:16 mark, PG Tim Lostetter was injured and left the game. After leading by 11 points, the Penguins sloppiness continued allowing Milwaukee to draw with a single point at 27-26 at the half. YSU made 15 turnovers in the half and hit just 33% of their shots. B.J. Dennis led their scoring with 5 points. The Panthers hit just 37% of their shots and made 13 turnovers in an ugly half.

As the turnovers continued to pile up in the 2nd half, Milwaukee tied the game at 37-37 with 13 minutes to go. A minute later, the Panthers hit a 3 putting them ahead 40-37. The Panthers expanded their lead to 51-39 with 7 minutes left in the game as YSU’s lackluster play continued. A late attempt to close the gap failed as poor shooting by the Penguins predominated. The Penguins sustained a deserved 59-50 loss. Youngstown State made 29 turnovers, hit just 34% of their shots and 18% of their 3 point attempts.

C Jamal Grady was high point man for the Penguins with just 12 points and SG B.J. Dennis with 10 points was his only teammate scoring in double figures. For champions Milwaukee, PF Ryan Watson scored 13 and had 10 rebounds.

Coach Durst said, “It was disappointing to play our worst game of the year in the championship game. Our entire team just never could get untracked.” Left unsaid was that even though the team has a 22-8 record and a 46 RPI, only Milwaukee will be going to the NCAA Tournament from the Horizon League.

After the game, it was announced that PG Tim Lostetter sustained a broken wrist in the game. SF Chad Delzell has a bruised shoulder that will keep him out of action for 5-6 days.

[Wayne23]

Always tough to get an injury to a key player.