The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Penguins Burned Outside
By Steve Porter

The Penguins took on the University of Illinois, Chicago Flames last night with the need to contain the Flames’ high-scoring (17.1 ppg) freshman SG Ronald Spruel.

The first half was close most of the way, with the Penguins out-shooting the Flames 47% to 42%, but knocking down just 1 of 11 of their 3-point shots while UIC hit 7 of 18 from beyond the arc. But Youngstown State held a 19-15 rebounding advantage and a 10-4 turnover advantage. Late in the half they used that to open a 38-32 halftime lead. C Will O’Neil scored 7 points but picked up 3 fouls and PG Pat White sat out much of the half with an injury that would keep him on the bench for the remainder of the game. For UIC, SG Ronald Spruel notched 15 points even though he was double-teamed most of the time.

Both teams came out in the 2nd half with improved shot selection. Midway through the half, YSU was on top 60-54. But two minutes later UIC knotted the score at 62-62. UIC then went hit a series of 3-point shots to pull away 73-65 with 5 minutes left to play. With 1:44 remaining, the Flames’ lead was cut to 77-73. But UIC scored on an inside jumper on their next possession and was fouled on the shot. They sunk the free throw to put them ahead by 7 with 1:28 to go. The Penguins were forced to foul and went down to an 84-74 defeat. UIC won by hitting over 60% of their shots in the 2nd half and finishing the game converting on 14 of 30 shots from 3-point land.

C Will O’Neil scored 20 while pulling down 8 rebounds. PG William Swan and SG Matt Angner each scored 11. SG Ronald Spruel finished with 24 points for UIC while PG William Craig hit for 15, all scored on 3-point shots.

The loss by the Penguins dropped them into a 3-way tie for 2nd place in the league, a game behind Oakland.

Pat White re-injured a strained wrist as the result of a fall. He is expected to be ready for the Penguins next game.

“Our defense which is typically a strong point for us, just was unable to contain the Flames in the 2nd half. They were hitting shots from all over the court and some big-time 3’s late in the game just put us in a hole out of which we were unable to crawl,” said Coach KD Durst. “But the script is now plainly written: we now need to win our remaining 3 games if we want a chance to capture the league crown. Pat’s nagging wrist injury is a concern, but we’ll let him rest it up and hopefully he will be able to be back to full-time duty for the rest of our season.”

[PointGuard]

Who Will Top Horizon League Standings?
By Steve Porter

With 3 league games remaining five teams are fighting for supremacy and the best seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament. The Oakland Golden Grizzlies (11-4) hold a one-game lead over the Detroit Titans, UIC Flames, and Youngstown State Penguins who are tied with 10-5 records. Wisconsin-Green Bay has an outside chance with a 9-6 record but will need slippage by the other four teams.

Oakland had won 6 of their last 7 games but has 2 of their final games on the road. They next play at Valparaiso, then host Youngstown State, and finish by travelling to Detroit.

UIC has come on strong by winning 8 of their last 10 games, including victories over Detroit and Youngstown State. The Flames also have 2 of their remaining 3 games on the road. Their next game is at Detroit, followed by a home game against Wright State and a road trip to Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Detroit won their first 6 league games, but then went into a tailspin. They’ve come back to win 3 of their last 5 games with the 2 losses being to Youngstown State and Wisconsin-Green Bay. They next host UIC, then have an away game with Northern Kentucky, and come back home to take on Oakland.

Youngstown State has lost 2 of their last 3 games including a let-down against UIC. The Penguins host Northern Kentucky next, then travel to Oakland, and finish the regular season with Cleveland State coming to Beeghly Center.

Wisconsin-Green Bay has had an up-and-down season but has won 3 of their last 4 games with one of the wins being against Detroit and their loss being to Youngstown State. Their schedule concludes with back-to-back road games against Wright State and Valparaiso before finishing their season at home against UIC.

UIC would seem to have the toughest remaining schedule with having to play Detroit and Wisconsin-Green Bay on the road.

Detroit and Oakland both also have 2 of their remaining games against those teams within this article but one is on the road and one at home for both of these teams.

Wisconsin-Green Bay has to play only one of the teams with a chance at the title and that game is at home, but they have two other road games.

Youngstown State plays two of their 3 remaining games at home against lower level teams but has to travel to Oakland for their other game.

“There is absolutely no way to accurately guess how this will all play out,” said Coach KD Durst. “But our team just needs to take care of business and focus on winning each game as it comes to us. We can’t overlook any team we play and obviously need to be on the top of our game when we travel to Oakland.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Cruise to Big Win
By Steve Porter

When Youngstown State beat Northern Kentucky earlier this season it started a 6-game losing streak for the Norse. But they had won 2 of their last 3 games coming into last night’s game against the Penguins. Northern Kentucky’s SG Rashaun Beasley came into last night’s game averaging 15.2 ppg.

It took 2 minutes before either team got on the board but C Will O’Neil snuck inside to put the ball in the hoop for the Penguins at that point. Northern Kentucky sunk two free throws at the 15:44 mark to score their first points. The Norse didn’t sink a field goal until YSU led 21-4 and there was 12:17 left in the half. The Penguins led 30-9 with 7-1/2 minutes to go in the first half. The Penguins onslaught continued to the very end of the half at which point they led 49-19. The Penguins hit 64% of their shots compared to Northern Kentucky’s 24% shooting. YSU also dominated the boards 19-8 and held a 12-4 turnover advantage. C Will O’Neil poured in 14 points and SG Matt Angner tossed in 10.

The Penguins maintained a huge lead throughout the 2nd half even as substitutes got a great deal of time on the court. After leading by as much as 36 points, the Norse cut into the lead a little at the end of the game but Youngstown State still thrashed Northern Kentucky by a final score of 86-60. The Penguins outshot the Norse 57% to 39%, were +8 in rebounds, and held a 19-8 turnover advantage.

C Will O’Neil topped the scoring for YSU with 22 points with PG Pat White dropping in 16 and SG Matt Angner adding 12.

The win lifted the Penguins back into a 3-way first place tie as Oakland lost to Valparaiso. It’s likely that Youngstown State’s next game which is at Oakland is likely will be the key to which team will come out on top of the league standings this season. “We just barely beat Oakland when they come to play on our court, so we know we’re up for a huge challenge,” said Coach KD Durst.

In other games affecting the league title, Detroit topped visiting UIC 86-81in OT to become the 3rd team tied for the league lead. Wisconsin-Green Bay fell behind by 19 points in the first half at Wright State, but then made a furious comeback in the second half but couldn’t such a big deficit and lost 79-74 knocking them out of contention for the top spot in the conference this season.

[PointGuard]

Youngstown State and Oakland Tussle for League Leadership
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State came out roaring and took a 15-4 lead over Oakland after just over 5 minutes of play with SF Colin Chambliss hitting all 3 of his shots to score 7 points. The Penguins continued to control play and led 31-19 with 4 minutes remaining in the half. The score at the break was 39-29 in favor of YSU as the Penguins outshot the Golden Grizzlies 52% to 35% and dominated the boards 21-12. C Will O’Neil scored 10 and pulled down 10 rebounds in the half.

The Penguins scored the first 7 points in the 2nd half, but then YSU went into a long scoring drought and Oakland scored the next 14 points to make the score 46-43 with 10:15 to go. Then with 6:17 remaining, the Golden Grizzlies scored inside to tie the game at 52-52. With 4 minutes to go, Oakland hit a 3 to leap ahead 59-56. O’Neil tipped in a rebound and then SG William Swan hit a 14 foot jumper to put the Penguins back on top 60-59 with 3 minutes left in the game. Swan hit the same shot 30 seconds later to put YSU on top by 3. With 1;48 on the clock, PG Pat White sank a 3 from the corner putting the Penguins ahead 65-59. Oakland was forced to foul and White dropped in 2 free throws with 50 seconds left to make it 67-59. The Golden Grizzlies tipped in a shot to reduce the lead to 6 points. Pat White then iced the game by hitting a 3 to make the final winning score for Youngstown State 70-61. The Penguins outshot Oakland 48% to 39% and held a 38-29 rebounding advantage.

C Will O’Neil had a big double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. PG Pat White scored 14 and dished out 7 assists. SG/PG William Swan hit for 11 points and SF Colin Chambliss contributed 10 points and 6 rebounds to the Penguins cause.

The victory moved Youngstown State into the uncontested lead the league with a 12-5 record. UIC whipped Wright State while Detroit lost to Northern Kentucky so those there now is a 3-way tie between Oakland, Detroit, and UIC for second place a game behind the Penguins.

“Again we seemed to have the game under control against Oakland, but like in our previous game with them, they roared back to the life in the 2nd half and we had to scrap to pull out the win. The Golden Grizzlies don’t know the meaning of “give up”, so I’m thinking no lead is safe when playing them,” said Coach KD Durst.

SG/PG William Swan proclaimed, “As a team we committed to winning this game. This is my 4th and final season here and we’ve come out on top of the league standings each of my previous 3 years here so there was no way I was going to let it get away from us this season. Yeah, I know we still have a game to play, but we’ll be ready to take on Cleveland State when they visit later this week to nail down the league title. Time to kick some butt.”

[PointGuard]

Penguins Annihilate Cleveland State
By Steve Porter

In last night’s final regular season game, the Penguins hosted Cleveland State and held the Vikings scoreless for 4-3/4 minutes to take a 10-0 lead. Midway through the half, YSU had expanded their lead to 30-10. The Penguins’ halftime lead was 48-27. YSU hit 58% of their FG attempts, while Cleveland State hit just 43%. The Penguins also had just 5 turnovers as compared to the Vikings’ 14 turnovers. SF Colin Chambliss was hot with 15 points in the half.

The Penguins pulled away further in the 2nd half and with 11 minutes to play led 76-36. With Coach Durst playing reserves extensively, Cleveland State cut the lead but never seriously threatened. Youngstown State crushed the Vikings 87-68. The Penguins held a 22-12 turnover advantage and outshot Cleveland State 57% to 48%. The win cemented the Penguins 4th straight Horizon League crown.

SF Colin Chambliss had high point honors with 17 points while PG Pat White and SG B.J. Dennis each scored 14. C Will O’Neil added 11.

“We really played well in our last 3 games. I’m hoping that carries over into the post-season tournaments,” said Coach KD Durst. “Those 3 wins not only locked up our 4th straight Horizon League title, but with them we achieved a 20 win season for the 4th straight time.
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[PointGuard]

[PointGuard]

Horizon League Tournament Results
As reported by Steve Porter

Day 1:

#10 seed Milwaukee Panthers (4-23, 4-14) vs #7 seed Wright State Raiders (8-19, 7-11): Wright State had to come back from a 25-18 halftime deficit to defeat Milwaukee 64-60. SF Kent Evans scored 16 for the Raiders; C Eugene Danielson scored 14 for the Panthers.

#9 seed Valparaiso Crusaders (9-19, 6-12, RPI 317) vs #8 seed Northern Kentucky Norse (9-18, 7-11, RPI 315): Northern Kentucky capitalized on a 34-23 halftime advantage to easily defeat Valparaiso 76-68. SF Terrance Grace dropped in 25 points for the Norse while PF Derick Coffee scored 23 and C Don Davis added 21 for the Crusaders.

Day 2:

#5 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (15-12, 11-7, RPI 104) vs #4 seed Detroit Titans (16-11, 11-7, RPI 167): Detroit beat Wisconsin 114-85 when playing at home and the Phoenix turned the tables when at home by beating the Titans 86-64 so the game seemed at though it would be a toss-up before play started.

The first half was close the entire way with Wisconsin-Green Bay coming away with a 44-41 halftime advantage. In the 2nd half, the Phoenix gradually pulled away from the Titans to build a 15 point lead with 6 minutes remaining. Detroit made a couple late runs but could never get closer than 5 points and ended up losing to Wisconsin-Green Bay 81-71. The Phoenix controlled the game inside scoring 42 points in the paint to Detroit’s 20 and holding a 35-30 rebounding advantage. Wisconsin-Green Bay also outshot the Titans 53% to 43%. C Jamil Weekes scored 23 for the Phoenix while teammate PF Josh Abraham added 12 points and 8 rebounds. For Detroit SF Israel Hill scored 16 and garnered 6 boards.

#6 seed Cleveland State Vikings (11-16, 8-10, RPI 302) vs #3 seed UIC Flames (15-12, 11-7, RPI 178): When the two teams played in Cleveland, the Vikings came back to edge the Flames 62-61, but they were thumped 76-48 when playing in Chicago. UIC has won 10 of their last 13 games, so edge to UIC coming into this game.

Cleveland State controlled the game throughout most of the 1st half and led at the break 42-32. But UIC’s offense caught fire in the 2nd half as they blazed away to score 53 points in the last 20 minutes and come back to overtake the Vikings. UIC used hot shooting (54%) to trim the Vikings sails 85-77. SG Ronald Spruel scored 21 to lead UIC. PG Michael Schau and SF SF Kareem Durdon both scored 14 points for Cleveland State.

#7 seed Wright State Raiders (9-19, 7-11, RPI 313) vs #2 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (15-12, 12-6, RPI 198): Oakland beat Wright State twice by nearly identical scores: 79-56 on the road and 76-58 at home, so the Golden Grizzlies should prevail.

Oakland took Wright State apart in the first half to achieve a 42-18 lead at the break. Oakland continued their dominance in the 2nd half and opened as much as a 37 point lead before the Golden Grizzlies eased up to finish with a 71-45 shellacking of the Raiders. Oakland held Wright State’s shooting to 33%, dominated the boards 47-26, and held a 16-9 turnover advantage. SG Morgan Sampson topped the scoring for Oakland with 19 points while PF Keanan Cole scored 16 and pulled down 7 boards and reserve C Chris Rand scored 15 and grabbed 8 boards in 18 minutes of play.

#8 seed Northern Kentucky Norse (10-18, 7-11, RPI 315) vs #1 seed Youngstown State Penguins (20-7, 13-5, RPI 100): Youngstown State came away with two easy wins against the Norse this season: 83-69 at Highland Heights and 86-60 at Youngstown. So big advantage to the Penguins coming into this game. But SG Rashaun Beasley, who is averaging 15.0 ppg, has had two 30+ point games this season and SF Terrance Grace (12.6 ppg) has had three 20+ point games, so if either of them catches fire, the Norse could surprise.

Youngstown State employed a devastating defense early to pull away to a 15-2 lead after 5-1/2 minutes of play. As the Penguins offense stuttered, the Norse cut the lead to 4 with 6 minutes remaining in the half. YSU regained momentum to pull away to a 39-29 halftime lead. C Will O’Neil scored 12 and SF Colin Chambliss tossed in 11 while each pulled down 5 boards in the half. Northern Kentucky’s SG Rashaun Beasley was held to use 2 points.

The Penguins went up by 20 with 11 minutes to play. The lead expanded to as much as 24 and Youngstown State buried the Norse 81-63. YSU held an advantage in almost all team statistical categories.

C Will O’Neil scored 19 and added 7 rebounds. SF Colin Chambliss tallied 16 points and 8 boards. PF Andre Lilly scored 15 and PG Pat White added 10. For Northern Kentucky, C Scott Dean scored 14 and had 6 rebounds. SG Rashaun Beasley and SF Terrance Grace were each held to 8 points.

Day 3, Semi-Finals:

#3 seed UIC Flames (16-12,11-7, RPI 178) vs # 2 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (16-12, 12-6, RPI 198): Oakland won both games against UIC during the regular season, 67-62 when playing away and 60-50 when playing at home. Oakland is definitely the favorite in this contest.

UIC led by as much as 10 points in the first half and ended the stanza on top 39-32. But Oakland’s defense shut down the Flames in the 2nd half. UIC was able to score only 18 points the entire half and Oakland raced past them. The Golden Grizzlies came away with a 73-57 victory. Oakland outshot UIC 44% to 34%, but won the on the basis of going to the line 22 more times where they scored 13 more points than UIC. Chris Rand came off the bench for Oakland to lead their scoring with 13 points while PG dropped in 12 points and C Rasheem Dorsett scored 10, grabbed 9 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, had 4 steals and 3 blocks. SG Ronald Spruel chipped in 19 points to lead UIC.

#5 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (16-12, 11-7, RPI 104) vs #1 seed Youngstown State Penguins (21-7, 13-5, RPI 100): Youngstown State bested Wisconsin-Green Bay 87-74 when playing in Green Bay and 81-64 in Youngstown. The Phoenix’ top scorer C Jamil Weekes who is averaging 15.3 ppg has 8 games during which he’s scored over 20 points including one 32 point game. In the two games against YSU, Weekes had a strong game (23 points) and his weakest game of the season (4 points).

The Penguins took a 17-9 lead after 6 minutes with SG B.J. Dennis and C Will O’Neil combining to score 16 of their 17 points. At that point they were subbed out and their replacements C Andre Lilly and SG Matt Angner scored the Penguins next 13 points to increase the lead to 30-15. YSU expanded their lead to 25 points at 42-17 with 7 minutes remaining in the half. The half ended with the Penguins leading the Phoenix 53-36. YSU hit 55% of their shots compared to 33% by Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the Penguins had just 2 turnovers in the half. SG B.J. Dennis fired in 15 points while C Andre Lilly scored 12. C Jamil Weekes had 10 points for the Phoenix.

The Penguins continued to dominate in the 2nd half and never let Wisconsin-Green Bay get back into he game. The final score was Youngstown State-101, Wisconsin-Green Bay-74. The Penguins held a 37-29 rebounding advantage and made just 6 turnovers compared to 12 by the Phoenix.

C Will O’Neil scored 21 while pulling down 8 rebounds. SG B.J. Dennis chucked in 20 points and PF/C Andre Lilly scored 16. Top scorer for Wisconsin-Green Bay was C Jamil Weekes with 18 points.

Day #4-Championship

#2 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (17-12, 12-6, RPI 198) vs #1 seed Youngstown State Penguins (21-7, 13-5, RPI 100): Youngstown State won both games against Oakland, beating them 83-80 at home and 70-61 on the road. Oakland has 3 of their starters scoring in double figures: SG Morgan Sampson, 13.3 ppg; PG Gary Johnson, 11.1 ppg, and SF Art Capel, 10.6 ppg. While the Penguins are favored, Oakland has been the surprise of the Horizon League and played tough against YSU so this are the two teams who should be playing for the championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

After Oakland took an early 9-4 lead, Youngstown State fought back to take their first lead after 7 minutes of play. From there the lead swung back and forth with 11 lead changes and 8 ties until late in the half when the Penguins went on a run to take a 9 point lead and finish the half up 45-38. Both team hit over 50% of their shots and the only true advantage was that the Penguins had 5 turnovers compared to 15 by the Golden Grizzlies. PG Pat White led Youngstown State’s scoring with 10 points while SG Morgan Sampson was Oakland’s top scorer with 9 points.

The Penguins inched ahead in the early going of the 2nd half and then went on a run that put them ahead 62-43 with 12:49 remaining. Oakland cut the lead to 12 points, but then YSU went on an 8-0 run that made it 70-50 with 9 minutes to play. Youngstown State went on to a decisive 82-61 win that yielded them another Horizon League championship and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.

Youngstown State outshot Oakland 51% to 47%, scored 48 points in the paint, held a 32-28 rebounding advantage and while making just 12 turnovers forced the Golden Grizzlies to turn the ball over 26 times.

PG Pat White dropped in 27 points, with C Will O’Neil scoring 13, and PF/C Andre Lilly adding 12 points as well as 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Oakland’s SF Art Capel led his team’s scoring with 16 points.

“Our guys were focused on each and every opponent the entire tournament,” said Coach KD Durst. “It made my coaching job easy. We’re really looking forward to getting back to March Madness. We’re on a roll with 6 solid wins in a row. Now we just need to keep the momentum going when we get into the Big Dance.”

[PointGuard]

Excerpts from Youngstown Vindicator Sports Pages

2021-2022 Youngstown State Penguins Player Stats

2021-2022 Youngstown State Penguins Team Stats

Final Top 25 Poll

[PointGuard]

Tournament Selections
By Steve Porter

Yesterday, Youngstown State’s players, coaches, and fans were attuned to the NCAA Selection Show. The Penguins were a #13 seed in the Midwest Regional and will play #4 seed Alabama this Thursday. Alabama is ranked #18 in the polls and comes to the tournament with a 23-7 season record. They were 12-6 in the Southeastern Conference, good enough for 3rd place. The Crimson Tide won the Southeastern Conference Tournament and possesses a 7 game win streak coming into the NCAA Tournament. They have the 14th best RPI compared to Youngstown State which has the 88th best RPI.

Coach KD Durst said, “We’re satisfied with our seeding. Obviously we have a big challenge in taking on Alabama in Round 1, but both teams come into the game with solid win streaks and we’re intent on extending ours. The Crimson Tide have four players averaging in double figures and a 5th who is just below that which means any of their starters can get hot and burn you, so we’ll probably have to shift our defensive focus throughout the game. We only have a few days to prepare, so the intensity level for both our players and our entire staff has to be exceptionally high.”

Two other Horizon League teams were invited to post-season tournaments. Wisconsin-Green Bay is the 5th seed in the Western Regional of the CBI Tournament and UIC is the 8th seed in the Eastern Regional of the CIT Tournament.

“I’m shocked that only two other Horizon League teams are in post-season tourneys,” exclaimed Coach Durst. “Wisconsin-Green Bay and UIC are definitely deserving but so are Detroit and particularly Oakland. To not see the Golden Grizzlies get an invite is an outrage. They were either in 1st place or challenging for 1st place in our league the entire season and they made it to the championship game of our league tournament. I just got off the phone telling Coach Reggie Williams that his team was robbed. I think Oakland would have made a good run in either the NIT, CBI or CIT. Earlier I talked with the coaches of Wisconsin- Green Bay and UIC to let them know we’ll be cheering them on.”

[PointGuard]

CIT Tournament

In the opening round of the CIT Tournament’s Eastern Regional the #8 seed UIC Flames (16-13) were pitted against #1 seed Southeastern Louisiana Lions (16-13). SG Ronald Spruel went 3 for 3 from the floor, including 2 from beyond the arc, in the first 3 minutes of play to score all of UIC’s points and give them an 8-6 lead. Ten minutes into the game the Flames were ahead 31-19 and they had forced the Lions to turn the ball over 8 times. UIC’s lead increased to 19 with 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the half with Spruel and PG Gary Cunningham combining to score UIC 24 of the Flames 39 points. The Lions then scored 15 unanswered points. The half ended with UIC on top 49-43. During the first half, UIC hit 11 of 23 three-point shots. Cunningham scored 18 and Spruel popped in 11 in the half to lead the Flames.
Three minutes into the 2nd half, the Flames had regained a 14 point lead at 61-47. With 8 minutes left in the game UIC was on top 83-63 as they continued to pour in points from the perimeter. UIC held on to score a solid 93-73 drubbing of favored Southeastern Louisiana. The Flames knocked down 18 of 43 from 3 point distance and held a 19-9 turnover advantage. 71 points were scored by UIC’s guards: PG William Craig (21), SG Ronald Spruel (19), PG Gary Cunningham (24 in 16 minutes of play), and SG Ronald Serraville (7 in 2 minutes of play) and they hit 17 of 35 from beyond the arc.

In the 2nd round UIC was matched up against #4 seed University of Missouri Kansas City Kangaroos (18-13). UMKC held a small lead throughout most of the early going, but as the first half proceeded the Kangaroos opened as much as a 23 point lead. At the break, UIC trailed 39-23. UMKC hit 52% of their shots while UIC only chipped in 24% of theirs in the first half.
UIC cut the lead to 10 with 16 minutes to play. But then their comeback stalled and with 9 minutes remaining, UMKC led 63-46. Things got worse for UIC and with 4 minutes to go, they were behind 78-51. The Flames went down in flames losing 84-58. UMKC outshot UIC 59% to 29% and outrebounded the Flames 42-28. C Curtis Mason led UMKC with 19 points and 9 rebounds. For UIC, PG William Craig, SF Grant Meekins, PG Gary Cunningham, and PF Ross Ransom each scored 10.