The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Wins Thriller
By Steve Porter

SMU came into this game after running off 3 straight victories to become champions of the Tip-Off in Paradise tournament. The Mustangs’ perimeter players had carried their team offensively.

SMU took a small lead early in the game, but then the Penguins defense tightened allowing Youngstown State to build a 34-24 halftime lead. The Mustangs hit just 28% of their shots in the first half. The Penguins out-rebounded SMU 24-19. SG Josh Jones led Youngstown State’s scoring at the half with 11 points.

But the Mustangs began hitting their shots in the 2ns half and pulled ahead 44-43 with 13-1/2 minutes left. From there on the lead shifted back and forth. With the game tied 71-71, Jamal Grady rebounded a missed shot and put the ball back up and into the hoop to give the Penguins a 2 point lead with 39 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Steven Puzey was called for a foul but C Cedric Rawlings was only able to make 1 of 2 free throws. SMU fouled on the inbounds play and Ryan Surpin dropped in both free throws putting the Penguins ahead by 3 with 26 seconds to play. The Mustangs missed a 3 point shot and fouled after the Penguins pulled down the rebound. Steven Puzey sank both shots. SMU hit a long 3 before the buzzer but Youngstown State came away with their first victory of the season by a score of 77-75.

SG Josh Jones led all scorers with 22 points while PG Ryan Surpin hit for 15 and C Jamal Grady scored 10 and pulled down 7 boards. SMU’s C Cedric Rawlings scored 15 and had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. But the Mustangs’ SG Jeremiah Dix who was averaging 19 ppg coming into the game was held to just 6 points.

Coach K. D. Durst said he was happy to see his guards play so well both offensively and defensively. He added, “Our guys were tested. But they hustled and pulled together to hold off a talented SMU team. We just gritted it out and our guys weren’t to be denied tonight.”

[Wayne23]

Winnah, winnah, toikey dinnah!!!

PG, check your Messages.

[Wayne23]

Never mind, I see you already did.

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Shoots Down Purple Eagles
By Steve Porter

Last night SG Josh Jones dropped in 10 points in the first half leading Youngstown State to a 39-33 halftime advantage over the Niagara Purple Eagles. The Penguins burned the net hitting 53% of their shots.

Youngstown State continued to shoot well and maintained a small lead throughout the 2nd half. They then pulled away late in the game to come away with a resounding 76-64 road win. The win evened the Penguins record to 2-2.

The Penguins dominated the boards 37-23. Josh Jones topped their scoring with 14 points and he also had 6 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 blocks. PG Ryan Surpin had a double-double (12 points and 12 assists). C Jamal Grady came off the bench to score 12 points.

[PointGuard]

Steve Simmons, 2nd assistant coach, advised that all 3 recruits (Aaron Tice, B.J. Dennis, and Kent Jones) signed LOI’s to play for the Penguins next season. He said they are still contacting recruits to build interest with the intent on filling the lone remaining scholarship this spring.

C Jamal Grady was named the Horizon League Freshman Player of the Week after averaging 11 ppg and 5.5 rpg in the team’s two games this past week.

[PointGuard]

Coach K.D. Durst received a scary call two days before his team’s upcoming game against the Morehead State Eagles. He was informed that one of his players, SF Rick Martin, had been involved in a car accident earlier that morning. His car was totaled and Martin was being examined at the hospital. Durst hurried to the hospital to check on his player. Fortunately Martin came out of the accident with just bruising and a few minor lacerations. Durst said, "Rick has been medically cleared to play in our upcoming game and wants to play, but a final decision about that just will be made just prior to game time."

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State Clips Eagles Wings
By Steve Porter

Hosting the 1-3 Morehead State Eagles, Coach K.D. Durst changed the starting lineup for the first time. Sophomore PF Rich Braswell started in place of senior Kareem Toole. Prior to the game Durst said, “Rich has played well coming off the bench so I wanted to see how he’d do as a starter.

The Penguins simply outhustled the Eagles in the first half. Not only did they outshoot Morehead State 52%to 35%, but also out-rebounded the Eagles, 19-11 and had 24 points in the paint compared to the Eagles 6. That resulted in a 43-28 halftime lead. Leading the way for the Penguins was PG Ryan Surpin with 13 points

Youngstown State hung on in the 2nd half, maintaining a small but solid lead and winning by a score of 71-64. Ry Surpin led all scorers with 18 points. PF Rich Braswell rewarded Coach Durst’s confidence by scoring 14 and grabbing 7 rebounds. SF Rick Martin, who sustained minor injuries in an auto accident two days ago, played 12 minutes. The victory improved the Penguins record to 3-2.

After the game, Coach Durst said, “Ryan Surpin has played extremely well in all three of our wins. His leadership is a key to our success.” Surpin is averaging 13.0 ppg, 5.6 apg, 1.8 spg, and has hit 51% of his FG attempts in the Penguins first five games. When asked about Rick Martin, Durst responded, “Rick is doing well. The roads were icy the morning of the accident. He had his seat belt on at the time of the accident, which apparently kept his injuries to a minimum. He just got a little banged up. We kept him out of practice since the accident, but he was chomping at the bit to get into the game tonight and he played without any effects of the accident.”

[PointGuard]

Tough part of the season for the Youngstown State basketball program. The next 4 games are on the road. Since the newspaper doesn’t have the bucks to send me out with the team, my game results stories are likely to be short.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Win 4th Straight Game
By Steven Porter

Youngstown State played a solid first half as both SG Josh Jones and C Jamal Grady scored 9 points to lead them the Penguins to a 45-36 halftime advantage over the Elon Phoenix.

The Penguins remained in control throughout the 2nd half even though a couple runs by Elon cut their margin to just 6 points. But each time the Penguins rallied to re-establish a firm lead and won by a final score of 85-72. The Penguins now have 4 wins against 2 losses this season.

C Jamal Grady scored 20 points, followed by SG John Jones with 15, PG Ryan Surpin with 14 (and 5 assists and 6 rebounds), C Steven Puzey with 12 points (to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block), and SF Chad Delzell with 8 points (plus 2 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals).

[PointGuard]

Win Streak Ends For Youngstown State
By Steve Porter

The first half against the 3-2 SE Louisiana Lions was a disaster for the Penguins. Poor shooting (32%), failure to block out on the boards (-9) and 6 more turnovers and 7 more fouls than the Lions put Youngstown State in a hole out of which they were unable to crawl. When the buzzer sounded at the half, SE Louisiana led 47-25. Fouls limited PG Ryan Surpin to just 6 minutes on the court, but during that limited time he scored 8 points to top the scoring for the Penguins.

With the exception of a 9 point run late in the game after a technical foul on Coach Durst, things didn’t improve in the 2nd half for the Penguins. They fell hard 84-63.

High scorers for Youngstown State were: PG Ryan Surpin (15), SF Chad Delzell (11 points plus 8 rebounds), and SG Josh Jones (10). C Jef Thompson scored 16 and pulled down 10 boards for the Lions. The Penguins, who played as though they were tired, now have a 4-3 record.