The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State and Oakland Tussle For League Supremacy
By Steve Porter

Oakland’s Golden Grizzlies, while tied for the league lead with Youngstown State with a 4-2 record, entered last night’s game with a less than stellar season record of 6-10. But that was likely deceiving since they only played 1 of 10 pre-conference games at home. Coach Marshod Green commented, “We were on the road so much the first couple months our guys thought Denny’s was home-cooking.”

Oakland’s SG Josh Angner hit for 5 points in the first minute of play. The Penguins shooting was cold but they finally achieved their first tie at 7-7 with 14:17 to play. Youngstown State then ground out a small lead over the next 10 minutes. But the Golden Grizzlies struck back in the final 4 minutes of the half to take a 31-28 lead to the locker room. The Penguins hit just 32% of their shots in the first half. C Steven Puzey was their leading scorer with 7 points.

Hitting 3’s from all over the court, Oakland pulled away for an 11 point lead after just 6 minutes of play in the 2nd half and held a double digit lead for the next 7 minutes. Coach Durst called a timeout and his players came back onto the court with a tenacious defense. The Penguins scored 13 unanswered points to forge a 58-56 lead with just 2:30 remaining. Oakland tied the game, but Ryan Surpin got the ball into Steven Puzey in the lane and Puzey drove to the hoop and converted a contested lay-in to put the Penguins on top 60-58 with 1:49 to play. The Golden Grizzlies were fouled and missed the first shot of a 1-and-1. Youngstown State grabbed the rebound and brought the ball up court quickly. Josh Jones worked the ball inside to Ryan Surpin who hit an 8 footer from the edge of the key. He was fouled on the shot and drained the free throw to give the Penguins a 5 point lead with 1:19 on the clock. Oakland worked the ball around the perimeter but tossed the ball away. They then were forced to foul and Tim Lostetter made them pay by dropping in both shots to put the Penguins on top 65-58 with just 51 seconds remaining. The Golden Grizzlies were unable to pull close. Youngstown State came away with a 69-61 victory that placed them alone atop the Horizon League standings with a 5-2 record. They now have a 4-game win streak. Five Horizon League teams are nipping at their heels with 4-3 records.

The Penguins hit just 37% of their shots but won the game by committing just 12 turnovers compared to Oakland’s 22 and scoring 14 more points at the free throw line.

Leading the way for Youngstown State were PF/C Jamal Grady with 17 points while C Steven Puzey and reserve PG Tim Lostetter both scored 14. Puzey also was larcenous with 5 steals.

Oakland’s Coach Green criticized the officiating after the game, saying “We faced a talented and determined opponent tonight and I congratulate them on their win, but the refs took the game out of our hands by the way they called fouls against us. With the game so close, I couldn’t risk getting tagged with a technical, so I had to reign in my frustration. But I call on the League to review game films to evaluate tonight’s officials and take action as they deem fit after that review.”

[Wayne23]

Get some rope.
Find a tree.
Let's go hang
The referee!

[PointGuard]

Rumor has it that the Penguins basketball team had a wild party following their win against Oakland. Lots of co-eds and plenty to drink. It seems that word got back to the coaching staff. While their activities possibly were not all that unusual for college students, I’ve heard that Coach Durst called a team meeting. He read the entire team the riot act about maintaining control, not embarrassing the program, university or themselves, and keeping their focus on what’s important…basketball, team, and winning.

None of the players or staff has been willing to confirm any of this, though.

[PointGuard]

Norse Frozen in Highland Heights
By Steve Porter

The Youngstown State basketball team took a bus ride to Highland Heights, Kentucky last night to take on the Northern Kentucky Norse. Although 7-9 for the season, the Norse had a spotless 6-0 record at home. BB&T Arena was packed with screaming Norse fans.

The Penguins jumped out to a small lead, but the Norse’ hot shooting put them on top midway through the half. But Youngstown State didn’t back down and pulled into a 29-29 tie with 4 minutes left in the half. When the buzzer sounded, Northern Kentucky sported a slim 37-35 lead as they outshot the Penguins 50% to 39%. SG Josh Jones led the scoring for Youngstown State with 9 points.

The two teams slugged it out in the 2nd half. With 12:06 remaining the game was tied 48-48. Tightening their defense, the Penguins were able to pull ahead 67-57 with 3:30 to go. The Norse tried to make a game of it, but Youngstown State held on to pull off an 81-70 road win and send the Norse fans dejectedly home.

Offensively, the Penguins were led by C Steven Puzey’s 16 points, SG Josh Jones with 15 and PG Ryan Surpin with 12. But reserve guards Tim Lostetter and Lonnie Holt added 9 and 8 points, respectively. Coach Durst extolled, “I’m particularly proud of how our team controlled the ball. We had just 6 turnovers and forced the Norse to make 18 turnovers.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Start Strong, Finish Weak
By Steve Porter

The Penguins came into last night’s game riding a 5-game win streak and an RPI ranking of 50th best in the nation. They hosted the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Flames, so named for the Great Chicago Fire. UIC came into the game with an 8-9 record and was 3-5 in the Horizon League. But their two starting guards, Dan Rucker and Tim Robinson, were averaging 16.8 and 15.2 ppg respectively. Before the game, coach K.D. Durst opined, “Not only are those two guys scoring a lot of points, but they are extremely efficient, both knocking down well above 40% of their shots. We’re going to just have to do the best job we can to try to dampen their success.”

Youngstown State came out with guns blazing and ran away to a 17-7 lead while hitting 7 of 10 from the field with 13-1/2 minutes left in the first half. The Fire came roaring back to tied the game at 23-23 six minutes later. The lead shifted back and forth thereon, but the Penguins went to the locker room down 35-32. PF Kareem Toole led their scoring with 7 points, but they were unable to contain Tim Robinson who led all scorers with 11 points.

Trailing by 9 points with 8 minutes to play, the Penguins scored 7 unanswered points to get back into the game. But then their shooting with ice-cold in the final 5 minutes and they fell hard, 65-53. The loss dropped their record to 12-7 for the season and 6-3 in the Horizon League, but they remained in sole possession of first place, one game ahead of 5 other teams.

The only players for Youngstown State scoring in double figures were C Steven Puzey with 11 and PG Ryan Surpin with 10.

“It was disappointing to lose a game at home that we had a good chance to win. After making the run that got us close in the 2nd half, we just couldn’t buy a bucket. But you can’t hit just 38% of your shots and expect to come away with a victory. We knocked down 9 of our first 12 shots and then hit just 27% of our field goal attempts thereafter,” lamented Coach K.D. Durst.

[PointGuard]

Offense Continues to Slumber for Penguins
By Steve Porter

After falling behind 11-2 early in the game to Wisconsin-Green Bay, it took until the 7:07 mark of the first half for Youngstown State to finally forge a 26-26 tie. A 3-pointer by Ryan Surpin put the Penguins into the lead for the first time with 4:30 to go at 29-28. Then their offense fell apart and the Phoenix took a 35-31 halftime lead. C Steven Puzey led the scoring for the Penguins with 11 points.

The second half was an unmitigated disaster for the Penguins. Even though the Penguins held the Phoenix’ high-scoring SG Ross Lang in check, their offense was lifeless and they continually dropped further and further behind to sustain an embarrassing 76-52 loss at home. They now are 6-4 in the Horizon League and fell into a 5-way tie for the league lead.

The bad news: 34% shooting (13% from 3-point distance) vs 48% by the Phoenix (37% from beyond the arc); -6 in rebounds, 19 turnovers. The only Penguin to do much offensively was C Steven Puzey with 16 points.

Raymond Harrington, Youngstown State’s 1st Asssistant Coach, said, “These past two game have shown we need to go back to basics in practice and re-build our confidence. We’re a better team than we’ve shown in these two games.”

[PointGuard]

Bad news for the Penguins. PG Ryan Surpin strained his calf and is likely to miss one and possibly two games. With Jermaine Harrington on academic probation, the Penguins already didn’t have much of a bench for guards. Their remaining healthy guards will be sorely tested.

In an unrelated development, it turns out my last game summary got under the skin of Coach Durst. He felt it was too negative and passed along his displeasure to my editor. Luckily, Tracy Tason, my editor, told me to just forget it and to keep reporting the story about the team accurately and in a forthright manner. He said Durst needs to learn to take some criticism when it’s deserved.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Defenseless
By Steve Porter

The first half in Youngstown State’s game last night with the Wright State Raiders was a shootout. Both teams. The Raiders hit 60% of their shots and the Penguins his 64% of their field goals attempts. Both teams hit over 50% of their 3’s as well. Wright State maintained a small lead throughout most of the half. At the break the score was 52-46 in favor of the Raiders. Chad Delzell started at his normal SF position but also played extensively at SG and scored 15, while Josh Jones who started at SG and filled in at PG, hit for 12.

The Penguins fought hard in the 2nd half but weren’t able to shut down the potent Wright State offense and ended up on the short end of a 95-78 score. With PG Ryan Surpin sitting out the game due to an injury, the Penguins piled up 20 turnovers.

Josh Jones dropped in 22 points while Chad Delzell hit for 15 and Tim Lostetter popped in 12.

3rd straight loss by the Penguins dropped their season record to 12-9. In the Horizon League they are now 6-5, placing them in a 5-way tie for 2nd place in what’s turning into a muddled race for league supremacy.

Reserve C Kevin Anderson strained his hamstring and will be sidelined for 10-12 days meaning he likely will miss the next 3 games. Meanwhile reports indicate PG Ryan Surpin strained calf will cause him to miss yet another game.

Coach Durst commented after the game, “We ran into a buzzsaw of an offense tonight. The Raiders shredded our defense. I thought our guys valiantly tried to keep up and we got great production from the perimeter. That’s a big positive that came out of the game tonight, particularly with Ryan Surpin unable to play. But Wright State did a terrific job of stopping our big guys. The Raiders cut off our passing lanes. We simply couldn’t get the ball inside enough. We needed that balance to compete successfully. Our other major problem tonight was that we turned the ball over too much. That not only took away opportunities thus stymying our offense, but gave the Raiders points on breakaways as well.” When asked if increased turnovers were due to the absence of Ryan Surpin, Durst replied, “No, because our turnovers were coming from everyone on our team, not only our guards. We simply got sloppy with the ball and that was, unfortunately, a total team effort.”

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Crushes Crusaders
By Steve Porter

With Ryan Surpin and Kevin Anderson not suiting up for last night’s game against Valparaiso, the bench looked a little short. But Coach K.D. Durst used all of his players to keep fresh legs on the floor. The Penguins overwhelmed the Crusaders in the first half, hitting 56% of their shots while holding Valparaiso’s shooting to 37%, holding a 20-12 rebounding advantage, and turning the ball over just 6 times. Youngstown State led at the break 44-30. Tim Lostetter, starting in place of Surpin, paced the Penguins attack with 11 points as well as dishing out 4 assists.

The Penguins continued their dominance in the 2nd half, extending their lead to as much as 21 points before settling for a lopsided 79-63 victory.

PG Tim Lostetter played the best game of his career with 19 points and 8 assists. The Penguins’ two primary big men, Steven Puzey and Jamal Grady, came back from weak performances in the Penguins’ prior game this week, to score 12 and 11 points respectively and also combined to haul down 14 rebounds. For Valparaiso, C Ian Boyce had a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds).

With the win Youngstown State rose back into a 4-way tie for the Horizon League lead with a 7-5 record.

PG Tim Lostetter was named the Horizon League’s Freshman Player of the Week. He scored 31 points and dished out 13 assists in the Penguins’ two games this past week.

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State has one scholarship that still will be available after this season. The Penguins have been continuing to actively recruit throughout this winter hoping to land the best available recruit this spring. I learned that Steve Simmons, Coach Durst’s recruiting assistant, has developed a good relationship with an unnamed very high profile high school recruit. Apparently this recruit fell of the radar of the big name Division I programs due to poor grades. When Coach Durst determined this, he directed Simmons to contact the recruit. Then when his SAT scores were announced and they were above Youngstown State’s miimum level, the recruiting became more focused. The recruit is now showing interest in the Penguins. My source was careful not to divulge his name, not wanting to alert other programs to the inroads Simmons has made and asked me not to report what I was told. I also learned that the Penguins have a talented JC player they are recruiting in the event that the high schooler doesn’t commit to Youngstown State.