The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Throttles UIC
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State held the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames scoreless for the first 8-1/2 minutes during which the Flames went 0 for 14 from the floor and the Penguins opened a 17-0 lead. YSU went on to build a 39-17 halftime advantage. The Penguins outshot the Flames 53% to 17% and pulled down 24 rebounds to the Flames 15. PG Pat White and C Will O’Neil both scored 10 points.

YSU held onto a big lead throughout most of the half. UIC hit some late shots that made the final score of 71-59 make the game look closer than it truly was. The Penguins hit 49% of their FG attempts while UIC hit just 32% of theirs. YSU dominated the boards 43-30.

C Will O’Neil scored 18 while pulling down 9 rebounds. PG Pat White also scored 18 and handed out 6 assists. SF Colin Chambliss added 12 points.

“We followed up a strong offensive performance in our previous game with an equally strong defensive effort tonight,” said Coach KD Durst.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Play Tough on the Road
By Steve Porter

The Penguins travelled south last night to take on Northern Kentucky with whom they were tied for 3rd place in the Horizon League. The winner of the game would rise into a 2nd place tie while the loser would drop into a tie for 4th place in the league.

After falling behind 8-3, Youngstown State tightened their defense and began grinding down the Norse. The Penguins steadily pulled away from Northern Kentucky and with 4 minutes to play in the first half YSU had built a 38-25 lead. The Norse closed the half by reducing the Penguins’ lead to 42-33. YSU outshot Northern Kentucky 52% to 36%. C Will O’Neil scored 7 for the Penguins, but SF Terrance Grace scored 13 and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Norse.

Youngstown State came out roaring in the 2nd half and opened a 53-35 lead after just 4 minutes of play and had saddled the Norse with 4 turnovers in the same period of time. The lead expanded to 20 points midway through the half. The Penguins coasted to a decisive 83-69 victory giving them a season record of 12-4 and a league record of 5-2 as they pulled a game behind league-leading Detroit. YSU turned the ball over just 7 times while they forced the Norse to make 17 turnovers.

C Will O’Neil scored 14, SF Colin Chambliss hit for 12, SG Matt Angner and SF James Asbury both scored 11, and PF Morris Phelan added 10. Northern Kentucky’s SF Terrance Grace scored 19 and had 4 assists, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block but did turn the ball over 7 times.

“We knew the Norse like to fire up 3’s and were pretty successful doing that so we applied a tight man-to-man defense throughout the entire game. 30 of their 58 FG attempts were 3 point attempts, but our guys didn’t give them many open attempts so they only hit 33% of those shots,” said Coach KD Durst. “We were able to play our reserves a lot and it was nice to see James Asbury and Morris Phelan show what they could do with some real quality minutes.” When asked about an in-game injury to PF Lee Pauly, Durst replied, “Lee took a hard shot when a bunch of players went up for a rebound. He sustained a nasty little cut above the right eye and it bled a lot. We decided to be conservative and kept him on the bench the rest of the game. But Lee’s a tough guy. He says he’s fine and our trainers agree. If the elbow had hit his eye or nose, it might be a different case.”

B.J. Dennis said, “After our last game when we held UIC scoreless for the first 8 or 9 minutes and built a 17-0 lead, I was hoping we could do something similar.
But I’ve never played a game where a team didn’t score for so long at the beginning. So to have anything like that happen again was just asking too much. We let Northern Kentucky put us in a hole early, but we came back and took control.”

The Penguins return home Friday for a game against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, the team YSU is tied with for 2nd place in the league standings.

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State and Oakland Play Thriller
By Steve Porter

SF Chris Chambliss scored 10 points in the first 12 minutes of the game and led the Penguins to a 30-15 lead over the visiting Oakland Golden Grizzlies. YSU was tagged with a bunch of fouls late in the half that allowed Oakland to narrow the lead at the break to 46-37. The Penguins hit 70% of their shots in the half but the Golden Grizzlies were able to score 9 more points at the foul line. SF Colin Chambliss’ 12 points led the Penguins offensively.

The Golden Grizzlies came alive in the 2nd half and with 6 minutes left in the game had cut the Penguins’ lead to 71-68. Then with 4:25 left, Oakland’s Chris Rand stole the ball and tossed an outlet pass to Dennis Gooden who jammed down a dunk to put the Golden Grizzles on top 74-73. The Penguins turned the ball over on their next possession and Oakland took advantage to gain a 3 point lead. As the Penguins seemed to wilt, the Golden Grizzlies took advantage to move ahead 79-73 with 2:45 left. YSU scored on 2 of their next 3 possessions, though, to get within 2 points at 79-77 with 1:39 remaining. Oakland made a free throw, but then Pat White drove into the key and put up a jumper that floated through the next to cut Oakland’s lead to 80-79 with 1:17 to go. Then with 31 seconds on the clock White again drove, but this time pulled up at the foul line and was fouled as he put up a shot. He sunk both free throws to put the Penguins on top 81-80. Coach Durst was apoplectic when William Swan fouled on Oakland’s following possession with 19 seconds left. But Oakland missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Swan redeemed himself by grabbing the rebound. He quickly tossed to Pat White who returned it to Swan who was intentionally fouled. Swan dropped in both shots to give YSU a 3 point edge with 15 seconds to go. YSU’s press kept Oakland from firing up a 3 pointer until there were just a few seconds remaining. The shot went off the rim and the Penguins rebounded to clinch the 83-80 win giving them sole possession of 2nd place in the Horizon League. YSU out shot Oakland 55% to 48% but went to the line 9 fewer times where the Penguins scored 8 fewer points that the Golden Grizzlies. The Penguins now have a 5-game win streak, but their next two games are on the road.

PG Pat White tossed in 17 points while SF Colin Chambliss and C Will O’Neil both scored 16 points and SG Matt Angner hit for 12. Chambliss also had 5 assist, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Chambliss and O’Neil combined to sink 15 of 19 FG attempts.

“Oakland is a darned tough team and is playing at a lot higher level than anyone anticipated at the beginning of the season. I have to admit I was pretty worried when we fell behind by 6 points with less than 3 minutes to play. But our guys really shone by outscoring Oakland 10-1 in the final minutes of the game,” said Coach KD Durst.

Pat White said, “Swanny (William Swan) didn’t mean to foul with us ahead by a point just before the end of the game. His guy momentarily lost control of the ball so Swanny thought he had a chance to get a clean steal. But the ref said he caught the guy’s arm. Swanny felt so bad that I was happy when he dove in after the missed foul shot to get the rebound. He quickly outletted it to me, and when I saw him zipping up court, I shot the ball ahead to him just beyond the midcourt line. They swarmed him trying to get a quick foul. It was great to see him go to the line and drop both shots cleanly through the net giving us that 3 point lead which held up.”

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Refuses to Fold at Cleveland State
By Steve Porter

It took 6 minutes for Cleveland State to knock down their first FG, but Youngstown State’s shooting wasn’t that much better so they only led at that point 6-1. The Penguins continued to implement a stingy defense and took a 22-9 lead with 8 minutes left in the half. The Vikings closed to within 6 points but then YSU pulled away late to post a 31-20 halftime lead. Youngstown State outshot the Vikings 39% to 32% and also held a commanding 21-11 rebounding advantage. C Will O’Neil scored 8 points and pulled down 7 rebounds in the half.

Cleveland State scored the first 10 points in the 2nd half to cut the Penguins lead to a single point with over 17 minutes to play. Will O’Neil then took charge and re-ignited YSU’s offense. With 11:16 to play, the Penguins led 47-37. Even though the Penguins shot poorly, YSU held the Vikings off from there on and won by a score of 70-59. Youngstown State held a 21-12 turnover advantage and a 34-28 rebounding advantage. The Penguins hit just 4 of 24 of their 3-point attempts. With their 6th straight win Youngstown State improved their Horizon League record to 7-2 and in doing so, tied for 1st place in the league.

C Will O’Neil had a double-double (17 points and 12 rebounds) plus had 1 steal and 2 blocks. SG Matt Angner scored 13 and PG Pat White had 10 points, 6 assists, 4 steals and a block.

“When the Vikings cut our lead to 1 in the 2nd half, our guys began pounding the ball inside so it was up to me put some points on the board. Luckily the ball fell through the hoop and we were able to pull away and regain a comfortable lead. Both of our games this week are on the road. We want to keep this win streak intact, so we need to get up for Valparaiso this Friday since they also have a win-streak going [3 games],” said Will O’Neil.

[PointGuard]

Valparaiso Zone Stymies Penguins
By Steve Porter

In their game last night against the Valparaiso Crusaders, PG Pat White hit three 3-point shots in the first 2 minutes of play to put the Penguins on top 9-2. With the Crusaders employing a 2-3 zone, the Penguins continued to fire away from outside and went to the break with a 33-25 lead. The Penguins hit 9 of 18 from beyond the arc. They also controlled the boards 21-14 but turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 11 times while Valparaiso had only 6 turnovers. The Penguins also employed a 2-3 zone and held the Crusaders shooting to just 31%. PG Pat White popped in 15 points while SG B.J. Dennis hit for 11.

Valparaiso’s C Dan Davis scored the first 8 points of the 2nd half to tie the game at 33-33. After 4 minutes of play in the half, Valparaiso was ahead 37-33 as the Penguins self-destructed and their offense sputtered. After falling behind by 6 points, YSU regained the lead at 45-44 with 9 minutes remaining. The lead shifted back and forth over the next 6 minutes but with 3 minutes remaining the Crusaders took a 5 point lead and expanded it to 8 as the Penguins offense fell apart. Valparaiso vanquished YSU by a final score of 64-59. The Penguins poor shooting in the 2nd half lowered their FG% to 37% for the entire game and their 21 turnovers helped seal their defeat.

SG B.J. Dennis scored 16 and PG Pat White scored 15 while handing out 7 assists and making 4 blocks but he turned the ball over 11 times. C Will O’Neil grabbed 11 rebounds but scored just 3 points. C Dan Davis scored 26 points for Valparaiso and PF Derick Coffee had a double-double (16 points and 12 rebounds).

“After we played and shot well in the first half, Valparaiso’s 2-3 defense stymied us in the 2nd half. They totally shut down our inside game and when our outside shooting went south, our goose was cooked,” said Coach KD Durst.

The loss coupled with a loss by Detroit and a win by Oakland knotted those 3 teams in a tie for 1st place with 7-3 records.

[PointGuard]

Durst Evaluates Penguins’ Play
By Steve Porter

Coach KD Durst responded to questions after his team’s recent loss to Valparaiso which was in 8th place in the league coming into the game against YSU. Besides the loss to Valparaiso, earlier this season the Penguins lost to last place Milwaukee. “We’ve got a good team this season, but we’ve played inconsistently in league play. It’s disconcerting that 2 of our 3 losses have been to teams in lower ranks of the Horizon League. And even in a few other games, we’ve let teams come back against us requiring us to scramble to eke out wins. We need to avoid these letdowns in our effort. By the time the League’s Tournament begins, we have to have a consistent high level of effort and effectiveness if we want to have a chance of getting back to the NCAA Tournament,” said Durst.

Durst analyzed play at each position by saying, “Pat White has played very well at PG. He’s become the team leader. Pat is tied for 12th in the nation in assists per game. William Swan, who played SG for us in prior seasons, has been White’s main back up and has done a good job but recently freshman Matt Stafford has been getting more playing time since he’s shown the ability to come in and put some quick points on the board. B.J. Dennis and Matt Angner have split time at SG. Both have had some good games and I’m comfortable starting either player. Colin Chambliss has been the starter at SF in each of his three seasons. He’s a good scorer and a very good rebounder as well as being a solid defender. James Asbury has been backing him up this season, and as he becomes more experienced, is becoming more valuable to us. When freshman Andre Lilly showed strong capabilities early this season, we began starting him at PF as well as having him also play some at C. He’s scoring well and his rebounding is improving as he gains more experience. Lee Pauly has been the primary backup at PF and while he originally was a SF, he’s shown some real strength on the boards. Will O’Neil continues to be our.top scoring threat and is now also our strongest rebounder. Freshman Morris Phelan has come off the bench to play both C and PF and is improving with each and every game. As a team our guys play tenaciously on defense, we rebound well, and we also make few turnovers in most of our games.”

When asked about weaknesses, Durst replied, “Our overall shooting is OK, but as in prior seasons, our 3-point shooting still is subpar. We have yet to develop a go-to shooter beyond the arc. Colin Chambliss has been our best outside shooter, but needs to put up more 3-point attempts. I’d also definitely like to see our FT shooting improve.”

In response to how he saw his team doing the rest of the way in league play Durst was unwilling to make a prediction, but said, “We still have to play our 4 toughest competitors [Oakland, Detroit, UIC and Wisconsin-Green Bay] and two of those games [Oakland and UIC] are on the road, so anything can happen. But to end this on a positive note: We’re the 65th best scoring team in Division 1 while we’re the 30th best defensively in points allowed per game by our opponents. Also, we’re the 18th best in rebounding, 33rd best in assists, and have the 15th fewest turnovers per game.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Smash Panthers
By Steve Porter

Although the Penguins failed to score for more than 3 minutes in last night’s game against the Milwaukee Panthers and fell behind 4-0, they opened a 17-5 lead with 11:15 left in the first half. YSU continued to dominate and by the end of the half the Penguins were ahead 42-19. Youngstown State outshot the Panthers 44% to 29%, held a 20-15 rebounding advantage, and had just 2 turnovers compared to 13 by Milwaukee. SF Colin Chambliss scored 10 to lead the Penguins.

Youngstown State held onto a big lead throughout the 2nd half as they thumped the Panthers 79-58. The win kept the Penguins in a 3-way tie for 1st place in the Horizon League.

SF Colin Chambliss tossed in 16 points, PG Pat White and PG/SG William Swan both scored 13, and PF/C Andre Lilly had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds).

[PointGuard]

The Battle for First in the Horizon League
By Steve Porter

The Detroit Titans, a team tied with Youngstown State and Oakland for 1st place in the Horizon League visited Beeghly Center last night. When the two teams met earlier this season in Detroit, the Titans defeated the Penguins by a score of 77-71.

Detroit took an early 6-2 lead but Youngstown State then scored 14 unanswered points to take a 10 point lead after 8 minutes of play. The Penguins continued to deploy a stout defense throughout the half and more importantly dominated the boards 25-13. The result was a commanding 40-22 halftime advantage. YSU’s offense was led by C Will O’Neil who scored 11 points.

Detroit cut the Penguins lead to just 6 points with 14 minutes to play. YSU regained a double-digit lead a few minutes later and was never seriously threatened thereafter. Youngstown State went on to down the Titans 72-59. The Penguins outshot Detroit 43% to 34% and completely owned the boards 52-31. YSU hit just 3 of 20 from beyond the arc, though.

C Will O’Neil scored 16 and hauled in 10 rebounds plus had 3 steals and 2 blocks. PF/C Andre Lilly scored 14. SG Matt Angner came off the bench to add 10 points. Oakland, which defeated UIC 60-50, remained tied for first place with the Penguins. YSU held Detroit’s top scorer, SG Copley Scott, to just 4 points.

“We usually do well on the boards, but this was by far our strongest rebounding game of the season,” said Coach KD Durst.

Nationally three teams have just one loss apiece this season. North Carolina (23-1) is ranked #1 in the polls with #2 UNLV sporting a 22-1 record, and #4 Gonzaga sitting at 20-1. Even though Maryland has 4 losses, they are ranked #3.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Stumble on the Road
By Steve Porter

Defense by Youngstown State was virtually non-existent in the first half. Wright State took advantage of the Penguins lackadaisical play by hitting 67% of their FG attempts and 50% of their 3’s. On the other hand, well into the half the Penguins were hitting just 35% of their shots. They warmed up late to finish the half hitting 42% of their FG attempts. Well behind the entire half, YSU trailed 43-30 at the break. C Will O’Neil connected for 12 points.

The Penguins struggled to try to cut into the Raiders’ lead in the 2nd half, repeatedly getting it down to 8 points, but almost every time the refs then called a foul allowing Wright State to resurrect a double digit lead. Finally the Penguins just seemed to give up and let the Raiders storm to a 76-60 drubbing. Wright State finished the game hitting 57% of their shots compared to 45% by Youngstown State. The Penguins were assessed twice as many fouls during the contest and the Raiders got 17 more trips to the foul line.

C Will O’Neil scored 16 but no other YSU player scored more than 8 points. PF Jerry Gomes scored 20 and had 8 boards for Wright State.

“While there’s no question we didn’t play well, at a certain point I think our guys just got frustrated when every effort they made to cut into what was a large lead was stymied by repeated foul calls. But you’ve got to give credit to the Raiders players and coaching staff for having a good game plan and playing extremely well,” said Coach KD Durst. Morris Phelan added, “I’m going to be hearing whistles in my sleep tonight.”

The loss dropped Youngstown State’s season record to 16-6 and their Horizon League record to 9-4 which puts them in a 3-way tie for 1st place. Besides being tied with Oakland and Detroit, the Penguins are just one game ahead of UIC and Wisconsin-Green Bay, both of whom have 8-5 records.

In the bottom half of the league are Cleveland State, Northern Kentucky, and Valparaiso which are tied for 6th place with 5-8 records, then Wright State in 9th with a 4-9 record and on the bottom in 10th place is Milwaukee with a 3-10 record.

Youngstown State’s lack of focus this season is exemplified by the fact that 3 of their 4 league losses have been against teams in the lower half of the standings.

[PointGuard]

Phoenix Turnover Game to Penguins
By Steve Porter

In the first half there were 15 lead changes and 8 ties between Youngstown State and Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Phoenix hit 44% of their shots compared to just 39% by the Penguins. YSU held a 12-2 turnover advantage by were out-rebounded 25-12. The result was that Youngstown State trailed 37-34 at the break. PG Pat White scored 11 points.

Youngstown State came out in the 2nd half on a mission and scored the first 8 points in less than 2 minutes to take a 5 point lead. But the Phoenix came back to tie at 43-43 2 minutes later. But then YSU went on to score 9 unanswered points. The Penguins continued to apply a pressure defense and took a 59-46 lead with 11:17 remaining in the game. YSU expanded their lead to 20 allowing Coach Durst to play a deep bench extensively and still come away with a 81-64 thrashing of Wisconsin-Green Bay. A 24-5 turnover advantage for the Penguins was a key to their lop-sided win that kept them in the 3-team tie for first place in the league.

C Will O’Neil scored 20, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had 3 steals and 2 blocks. PG Pat White dropped in 17 points, SG Matt Angner scored 13, and SG B.J. Dennis added 11.

Pat White injured his wrist in the 2nd half and will be day-to-day.

After the game SF Colin Chambliss exclaimed, “Coach tore us apart in the locker room between halves! He let us know in no uncertain terms that we needed to get off our butts and attack the boards. Can’t say it was pleasant, but I’m glad he lit a fire under us. We came back out onto the court determined to play better and we did.”

“Being tied with 2 other teams for the league lead this late in the season and having to travel to Chicago to take on UIC, a team just behind us by a single game, means we need to pick up the level of our play,” added PG Pat White. “There’s just no room for any margin of error.”