The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Another Strong Week by O’Neil
By Steve Porter

Will O’Neil, Youngstown State’s star freshman center, again was named both Horizon League Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. In the two games played this past week by the Penguins O’Neil scored 44 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

[PointGuard]

Movin’ On Up…
By Steve Porter

Last night the Penguins travelled to Fairborn, Ohio to take on the Raiders from Wright State. The Raiders went on a run midway through the first half and opened an 11 point lead. C Will O’Neil brought them back to within 3 but got into foul trouble with 5 minutes left in the half. But even with O’Neil riding the bench, the Penguins recaptured the lead with 3-1/2 minutes remaining in the first half. The half ended in a 40-40 tie, though. Centers Will O’Neil and Kent Jones both scored 8 for YSU.

In the 2nd half with the Penguins on top 47-45, the refs had tagged both Will O’Neil and his replacement, Kent Jones, with 3 fouls apiece. With 11:37 to go, YSU went on top 61-51. The Raiders quickly reduced the lead to 6 but then faded and the Penguins opened a 15 point lead before settling for an 84-72 road win. Combined with Oakland’s loss, the win moved Youngstown State into a tie for the Horizon League lead.

C Will O’Neil topped all scorers with 21 points. SG William Swan contributed 17 and PF Aaron Tice added 11.

“Wright State took it to us in the first half and shot well all night. Fortunately we had an 18-10 turnover advantage that I think was a big part of the difference in the 2nd half. Our guys also shot phenomenally well from the free throw line (20 of 24),” said Coach KD Durst. “It’s nice to get back into a tie for first place in the league, but we have to travel to take on Oakland next week, so that’s gonna be a big challenge.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Sink Vikings
By Steve Porter

The 4th place Cleveland State Vikings visited last night. The Penguins played in a workman-like fashion in the first half and gradually pulled away. When the buzzer sounded ending the half, they were on top 38-26. C Will O’Neil dropped in 12 points. With both PF Aaron Tice and SF Colin Chambliss in foul trouble, Lee Pauly filled in at both positions and scored 9 points and pulled down 4 rebounds.

The Penguins came out on fire in the 2nd half and rapidly expanded their lead to 23 points. Playing strong on both ends of the court, YSU sunk the Vikings 82-62.

C Will O’Neil hit for 28 points, SG William Swan had 12, PF/SF Lee Pauly had 11 points and 8 boards, and PF Aaron Tice scored 10 and also pulled down 8 rebounds. Two Vikings fouled out trying to stop Will O’Neil, thus sending him to the line 19 times. If he had been hitting from the foul line (he only dropped in 8 of those 19 attempts), he would have scored 30+ points. O’Neil hit 10 of 12 from the field as Cleveland State was unable to keep him from driving to the bucket.

“That was a nice tune up for our next game against co-league leader Oakland this coming Monday,” said Coach KD Durst.

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Names O’Neil Freshman of the Week
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State’s Will O’Neil scored 49 points in the Penguins two games last week which earned him another Horizon League Freshman of the Week award. O’Neil is now averaging 19.7 ppg and 7.1 rpg in the 25 games the Penguins have played this season.

[PointGuard]

The Battle for Horizon League Honors
By Steve Porter

Last night Youngstown State travelled to Michigan to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Both teams were tied for the league lead with only one game remaining after last night’s battle so this was a critical test for both teams.

The Penguins scored the first 4 points of the game, but the refs then called 5 fouls against YSU in the first 3 minutes of play sending 2 players to the bench. Oakland pulled ahead 13-6 after 7 minutes of play. As the fouls mounted against the visiting Penguins and additional players were relegated to the bench, the Golden Grizzlies were able to maintain a small lead until late in the half when YSU crept ahead by a single point twice. The half ended, though, with Oakland on top by a narrow 41-40 margin. C Will O’Neil was high point man with 11.

Youngstown State scored the first 7 points in the 2nd half, but Oakland came right back to keep things close. With 8 minutes left in the game the Penguins led 59-55. YSU then scored the next 7 points. But the Golden Grizzlies again bit back and with 3 minutes remaining had reduced the Penguins’ lead to 66-59. YSU then took care of business to come away with a decisive 74-64 victory that catapulted them into sole possession of first place in the Horizon League.

The win was due to a tightening of their defense in the 2nd half that reduced Oakland’s shooting percentage for the game to 39% and dominance on the boards (39-26) plus a determination once they had the lead to not relinquish it.

C Will O’Neil scored 21 plus grabbed 7 boards and blocked 4 shots. PG Pat White added 11 while PF Aaron Tice had a double by scoring 10 and pulling down 10 rebounds.

“We really wanted this one. Oakland edged us out on our home court earlier this season and we wanted payback,” said Aaron Tice. “And, of course, there was the added incentive of playing head-to-head for control of first place in the league standings. We felt like the refs took the game away from us in the first half, so during halftime we committed to turning things around in the 2nd half and we did it! We’re really stoked.”

Coach KD Durst added, “I’m proud of how the guys played tonight. They could easily have folded in the first half, but absolutely never let down. Now we have to get focused on winning our last regular season game this Thursday against UIC. We can’t afford a letdown.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Regular Season Ends
By Steve Porter

When the Youngstown State Penguins took the court for their final game of regular season against the UIC Flames, their mission was simple. Win the game and they would have a three-repeat atop the Horizon League standings. But if they lost it, they would finish in a 3-way tie with Detroit and Oakland, both of which had won their games earlier in the day. UIC came into the game wanting to win to help soften the disappointment of a disappointing season in which they came into the game with a 6-11 record in the league and 7-19 overall. On the other hand, the Penguins wanted revenge for their worst loss of the season, an 84-69 beatdown earlier this season on UIC’s court, a game in which UIC’s starting guards (Gary Cunningham and Bret Maloney) combined to score 40 points. A large crowd was on hand to see how the Penguins would fare.

Coach KD Durst started all 4 seniors (PG Lenihan Murphy, SF William “Doc” Worley, PF Aaron Tice, and C Kent Jones) on the team, three of which typically are not starters. After falling behind 8-3, the Penguins came back to take a 22-16 lead with 10-1/2 minutes left in the half. UIC struck back to take a one point lead a few minutes later, but then the Penguins applied an impermeable defense that allowed them to go ahead 46-27 with 1 minute left. The half ended with YSU in command by a 46-31 score. The Penguins outshot the Flames 58% to 46% and held a 13-7 turnover advantage. SF Colin Chambliss led the scoring for YSU with 11 points. C Murry Ravenel scored 15 for UIC.

Youngstown State scored the first 8 points of the 2nd half to open a 23 point lead with 15 minutes to play. The Penguins went on to annihilate UIC 76-51. With that win Youngstown State finished the regular season with a 21-6 record and in first place in the Horizon League with a 14-4 record.

Leading scorers for YSU were C Will O’Neil and SF Chris Chambliss with 14 points. SF James Asbury added 12 and SG William Swan had 10. O’Neil also had 8 rebounds and 4 steals. C Murry Ravenel finished with 20 points for UIC.

[PointGuard]

Penguins Ready for Horizon League Tournament
By Steve Porter

Earlier this past week, the Youngstown State Penguins finished their regular season with their 5th straight win culminating a successful 21-6 record and 43rd best RPI of all Division I teams as well as a first place finish in the Horizon League. That means they enter the Horizon League Tournament as the #1 seed.

“We’re looking forward to playing in the tournament. We all realize that whatever teams we end of paired against will want to knock off the #1 seed. So that means we need to turn up our intensity for each and every game,” said senior PF Aaron Tice.

The Penguins averaged 77.6 ppg (35th highest in the country), 34.9 rpg (45th in the nation), 6.3 bpg (39th in the nation), and 12.1 topg (21st best in the country). Defensively they allowed just 67.9 ppg (48th lowest in the nation) and forced 16.9 topg (24th best in the country).

Here’s my grading of the starting 5 for the Penguins:

PG Pat White is averaging 8.0 ppg and 5.7 apg (tops in the Horizon League). These rate well, but he gets a B+ since his shooting percentages have been subpar.

SG William Swan is averaging 8.2 ppg and 2.5 apg. Overall strong play but again his shooting percentages only allow a grade of B.

SF Colin Chambliss averaged 9.6 ppg and 5.5 rpg. Excellent shooting percentages (48% of all FG attempts and 43% on 3’s). The only negative is that he not put up enough shots so his grade is an A-.

PF Aaron Tice averaged 9.5 ppg and 6.9 rpg (5th best in the Horizon League). His grade is also an A-.

C Will O’Neil scored 19.6 ppg (best in the Horizon League), 7.0 rpg (4th best in the league), and 1.2 bpg (5th best in the league). His only negative has been that he has dropped in just 59% of his FT attempts, but he still rates an A.

The bench gets an A-. Primary reserves have been PG Lenihan Murphy, SG B.J. Dennis, SF James Asbury, PF Lee Pauly, and C Kent Jones, all of whom have been very able substitutes.

“We’ve had a good season. There was a little bauble about ¾ of the way through the season when we had that 3-game losing streak, but our guys got things back on track and have been playing well recently,” said Coach KD Durst. “But the league tournament is always tough. Not only have both Detroit and Oakland been playing extremely well in league play the entire season, but if the tournament is like normal, at least a couple other teams will come on strong and score some big upsets. So, no matter who we play, we need to be playing our best every time we go on the court.”

With the Horizon Tournament about to begin here is the final league standings:

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament—Day 1
By Steve Porter

The first day of the tournament provided pitted the 4 bottom teams in the Horizon League against each other with the winners of the two games moving ahead to take on the top 6 teams in the league.

#10 Milwaukee Panthers (8-19, 5-13) vs #7 Wright State Raiders (11-16, 7-11): In league play, these two teams split their series with each winning at home (Wright State by 9 points and Milwaukee by 4 points). Last night, Milwaukee quickly took control and by the end of the first half the Panthers had established a 40-24 advantage. The Raiders were even less successful at cracking Milwaukee’s defense in the 2nd half. The Panthers buried Wright State by a 70-43 final score as they outshot the Raiders 60% to 33%. C Eugene Danielson dumped in 28 points while pulling down 9 rebounds for Milwaukee. Top scorer for Wright State was C Jerald Johnson with 13 points.

#9 Northern Kentucky Norse (8-20, 6-12) vs #8 UIC Flames (7-20, 6-12): When playing on their home courts, both of these teams easily beat the other earlier this season. Neither team was able to pull away in the first half and Northern Kentucky took a 32-29 lead to the locker room. The 2nd half was equally close, but UIC crept by the Norse. The Flames ended up on top 70-67 due primarily to hitting 51% of their FG attempts compared to 42% by the Norse. Three players each scored 12 points for UIC: C Murry Ravenel and two reserves, Ronald Serraville and Jarod Gaither who scored their combined 24 points even though they were on the court for a combined 19 minutes. PF Matt Darby led the scoring for Northern Kentucky with 15 points.

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament—Day 2
By Steve Porter

Eight teams took the court yesterday in games that would send 4 teams on to the semi-finals. Fans for each team flocked into Detroit’s Joe Lewis Arena to root for their teams. With bands blaring, cheerleaders leading cheers, and fans making noises of all kinds, the joint was rocking. Here are the results:

#5 Cleveland State Vikings (9-18, 9-9) vs #4 Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (16-11, 10-8): On their own court, the Phoenix drubbed the Vikings and then won in overtime when playing at Cleveland State. Wisconsin-Green Bay jumped out on top and never trailed in this game. By the half the Phoenix were ahead 50-31. Wisconsin-Green Bay cruised through the 2nd half to top Cleveland State 81-64. SF Pete Richmond had a double-double for the Phoenix with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Cleveland State’s PG Michael Smith scored 11 to top their scoring.

#6 Valparaiso Crusaders (13-14, 7-11) vs #3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies (16-11, 13-5): Oakland beat Valparaiso twice this season by double-digit advantages. Oakland opened a 16 point lead during the 1st half, but Valparaiso narrowed the deficit to 39-33 at the half. The game remained close throughout the 2nd half with Oakland coming away with a 70-65 victory over the Crusaders. For Oakland, PG Gary Johnson tossed in 22 points. Valparaiso’s PG Jack Ray scored 15.

#10 Milwaukee Panthers (9-19, 5-13) vs #2 Detroit Titans (17-10, 13-5): Detroit won both games against Milwaukee during the regular season with ease. Milwaukee applied a defense that squashed the Titans in the first half. The Panthers led 40-28 at the break. Detroit made some runs in the 2nd half but was never able to catch up. Milwaukee upset the Titans 77-69. C Eugene Danielson had his 2nd straight big offensive game, scoring 24 points. SF Dwayne Poge topped the scoring for Detroit with 15 points.

#8 UIC Flames (8-10, 6-12) vs #1 Youngstown State Penguins (21-6, 14-4): Each of these teams beat the other by big margins when playing on their home courts. The Penguins 15-point loss to the Flames was the last in their 3-game losing streak about 5 weeks ago while their 25-point win was just over a week ago in their final game of the regular season capping a 5-game win streak. The question left hanging was who would prevail on a neutral court?

Youngstown State shot well early and took a 16-8 lead 7 minutes into the game. Midway through the half the lead shrunk to 2 points, but then the Penguins took control to go ahead 37-24 with 4-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. UIC hit some late shots but YSU was able to hang onto a solid 44-32 halftime advantage. The Penguins outshot the Flames 58% to 36%. SF Colin Chambliss led the scoring for YSU with 9 points. SG Gary Cunningham and his replacement Ronald Serraville scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for UIC.

With Will O’Neil on the bench with 3 fouls at the beginning of the half, the Flames cut the lead to 8 points. But the Penguins were able to re-establish a double digit lead. With 7 minutes remaining, YSU was on top 71-54. The Penguins continued to pressure the Flames and expanded their lead to as much as 25 points. Youngstown State crushed UIC 81-60. The Penguins completely dominated the boards 47-28 and held a 16-10 turnover advantage. SF Colin Chambliss had a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds) and C Will O’Neil also scored 15 while pulling down 8 rebounds. PG Pat White scored 10 and dished out 9 assists. SF James Asbury came off the bench to score 10. PF Aaron Tice scored 9 and hauled down 10 boards. After scoring a combined 21 points in the first half, SG’s Gary Cunningham and Ronald Serraville were held to a total of just 4 points in the 2nd half with Cunningham topping UIC’s scoring with 15 points.

“We got good solid play from the entire team today,” said Coach KD Durst. “With Will O’Neil in foul trouble throughout the game, forcing us to judiciously play him, others came on to pick up our offense. We played well defensively throughout the game and our control of the boards was key to our win. It was great to get a victory, but this time of year winning means that its time to begin focusing on winning our next game.”

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament—Semi-finals
By Steve Porter

Three favorites and one underdog made it to the league semifinal games yesterday. The big surprise being that #10 seed Milwaukee had won their first two games in the tournament including a big win over #2 seed Detroit.

#10 Milwaukee Panthers (10-19, 5-13) vs #3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies (17-11, 13-5): Oakland beat Milwaukee twice this season, but one win was by just 4 points. In last night’s game, Milwaukee took and early lead and edged away throughout the 1st half, finishing the first 20 minutes with a 37-30 advantage over the Golden Grizzlies. The Panthers then steadily increased their lead in the 2nd half and finished strong to give Milwaukee a 74-57 shellacking of Oakland. The Panthers held Oakland’s shooting to 39% while they hit 54% of their shots. Milwaukee also held a 33-24 rebounding advantage. PG Shantay Toliver broke out with 26 points. PF Keanan Cole scored 15 for Oakland.

#4 Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (17-11, 10-8) vs #1 Youngstown State Penguins (22-6, 14-4): Youngstown State won both regular season games against Wisconsin-Green Bay. There were a lot of Penguins fans at last night’s game in Detroit. Even though YSU took a 7-1 lead, C Will O’Neil was called for 2 fouls in the first 2-1/2 minutes of play, sending him to the bench. The Penguin lead had risen to 14-1 before the Phoenix hit their first field goal at the 14:52 mark. YSU continued to apply pressure and with 9:49 remaining in the half, they led 31-8. The half ended with the Penguins on top 44-22. YSU hit 59% of their shots compared to just 28% by the Phoenix. The Penguins also had a 12-6 turnover advantage. SF Colin Chambliss dropped in 11 points.

The Penguins stingy defense continued throughout the 2nd half. Even though YSU’s shooting cooled, they still were able to pull further away. Youngstown State decimated Wisconsin-Green Bay and won 76-44. Wisconsin-Green Bay’s shooting was limited to 30% and YSU held a 17-7 turnover advantage.

Even though he was on the court just 13 minutes, C Will O’Neil scored 14 points. PF Aaron Tice scored 13. SF Colin Chambliss hit for 11 plus grabbed 9 boards. PG Pat White also scored 11 and dished out 7 assists. SG B.J. Dennis had 11 points. SG Josh Abraham finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“Our defense was stellar tonight,” said Coach KD Durst. “Now we have to play the Cinderella team of the tournament for the championship. Not only has Milwaukee had 3 upset wins, but they’ve been burying their opponents. So we’ve got to ignore their record and realize that we’re going up against a team that is peaking.”