Published: Sunday, December 17, 2006
YSU rally ends up being one point short
The Penguins trailed by
14 before losing, 79-78,
to Robert Morris.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Youngstown State University men's basketball team put on a torrid finish Saturday night, but still came up one-point short to Robert Morris, 79-78.
The Penguins (4-7) trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half and battled back against the Colonials (6-3) only to run out of time at the end.
"We played 13 minutes of good basketball," YSU coach Jerry Slocum said. "Unfortunately we didn't play well for the first 27 minutes."
The Penguins trailed 63-49 with a little more than 12 minutes remaining in the contest. But sparked by the 1-2 punch of seniors Quin Humphrey and Keston Roberts, the Penguins whittled away at the Colonials' lead.
They pulled to within six points 67-61 with 5:46 remaining on a Roberts bucket. Another Roberts goal with 3:11 remaining closed to the lead to one point, 71-70.
The Colonials then built the lead back up to six points 76-70 from the foul line, but YSU came back as Humphrey hit a pair of free throws and then added another bucket to close to within four, 78-74.
Trailing 79-74 with less then 30 seconds remaining, the Penguins had three straight 3-point shots miss the mark. Those were taken by Roberts, Humphrey and Byron Davis.
After sophomore Jack Liles made one of two free throws with 4.9 seconds to go, Roberts got the rebound and canned a 3-pointer to get to the final margin.
Very slow start
"You can't play just 13 minutes and expect to win on the road," Slocum said. "I called a time out with 13 minutes and told them that it was time they started playing some basketball.
"We got hurt inside early in the game allowing [Freddie] Harris to score some uncontested baskets, but we're undersized and we are trying," Slocum said.
Humphrey led all scorers with 25 points, including 10 of 12 from the foul line, while Roberts added 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.
Junior John Barber and Liles each added 10 for the Penguins, who battled back to within 34-31 in rebounds, but the Colonials had 13 offensive boards to 11 for YSU.
Tony Lee led the Colonials with 23 points, while Harris, who averaged 2.1 points per game, had 16 and Jeremy Chappel added 15.
YSU shot 46.4 percent from the field, to 51.8 percent for the Colonials. The Penguins were 21-of-27 from the free throw line.
Big lead early
The Penguins opened the game in a zone defense forcing the Colonials to shoot from the outside.
That resulted in Robert Morris hitting its first five 3-point shots and pulling to a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes of play.
YSU came back on a 9-3 run to close the gap to two points 18-16 with 11:30 remaining in the half, but the Colonials just gradually pulled away taking control of the inside with 6-9 Harris scoring 11 points on easy layups and free throws and Robert Morris pulled to a 12-point advantage, 38-26.
The Colonials led at halftime, 48-37.
The Penguins shot 48 percent from the field in the first half, but Robert Morris hit for a torrid 58 percent and shot 45.5 percent from the 3-point line. They did miss their last six long-range shots in the half.
YSU was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in the half, but was outrebounded 17-10, including 6-2 on the offensive board.
The Penguins will continue on the road Tuesday night at James Madison and then play at Kent State on Friday before returning to Beeghly Center on Dec. 30 for a 4:05 p.m. tipoff against Horizon League opponent Loyola. That game will be part of the women-men doubleheader as the YSU women meet Butler in a 2:05 p.m. start.
mollica@vindy.com
Sunday, December 17, 2006
The Penguins trailed by
14 before losing, 79-78,
to Robert Morris.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Youngstown State University men's basketball team put on a torrid finish Saturday night, but still came up one-point short to Robert Morris, 79-78.
The Penguins (4-7) trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half and battled back against the Colonials (6-3) only to run out of time at the end.
"We played 13 minutes of good basketball," YSU coach Jerry Slocum said. "Unfortunately we didn't play well for the first 27 minutes."
The Penguins trailed 63-49 with a little more than 12 minutes remaining in the contest. But sparked by the 1-2 punch of seniors Quin Humphrey and Keston Roberts, the Penguins whittled away at the Colonials' lead.
They pulled to within six points 67-61 with 5:46 remaining on a Roberts bucket. Another Roberts goal with 3:11 remaining closed to the lead to one point, 71-70.
The Colonials then built the lead back up to six points 76-70 from the foul line, but YSU came back as Humphrey hit a pair of free throws and then added another bucket to close to within four, 78-74.
Trailing 79-74 with less then 30 seconds remaining, the Penguins had three straight 3-point shots miss the mark. Those were taken by Roberts, Humphrey and Byron Davis.
After sophomore Jack Liles made one of two free throws with 4.9 seconds to go, Roberts got the rebound and canned a 3-pointer to get to the final margin.
Very slow start
"You can't play just 13 minutes and expect to win on the road," Slocum said. "I called a time out with 13 minutes and told them that it was time they started playing some basketball.
"We got hurt inside early in the game allowing [Freddie] Harris to score some uncontested baskets, but we're undersized and we are trying," Slocum said.
Humphrey led all scorers with 25 points, including 10 of 12 from the foul line, while Roberts added 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field.
Junior John Barber and Liles each added 10 for the Penguins, who battled back to within 34-31 in rebounds, but the Colonials had 13 offensive boards to 11 for YSU.
Tony Lee led the Colonials with 23 points, while Harris, who averaged 2.1 points per game, had 16 and Jeremy Chappel added 15.
YSU shot 46.4 percent from the field, to 51.8 percent for the Colonials. The Penguins were 21-of-27 from the free throw line.
Big lead early
The Penguins opened the game in a zone defense forcing the Colonials to shoot from the outside.
That resulted in Robert Morris hitting its first five 3-point shots and pulling to a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes of play.
YSU came back on a 9-3 run to close the gap to two points 18-16 with 11:30 remaining in the half, but the Colonials just gradually pulled away taking control of the inside with 6-9 Harris scoring 11 points on easy layups and free throws and Robert Morris pulled to a 12-point advantage, 38-26.
The Colonials led at halftime, 48-37.
The Penguins shot 48 percent from the field in the first half, but Robert Morris hit for a torrid 58 percent and shot 45.5 percent from the 3-point line. They did miss their last six long-range shots in the half.
YSU was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in the half, but was outrebounded 17-10, including 6-2 on the offensive board.
The Penguins will continue on the road Tuesday night at James Madison and then play at Kent State on Friday before returning to Beeghly Center on Dec. 30 for a 4:05 p.m. tipoff against Horizon League opponent Loyola. That game will be part of the women-men doubleheader as the YSU women meet Butler in a 2:05 p.m. start.
mollica@vindy.com
Sunday, December 17, 2006
The Youngstown State University men's basketball team put on a torrid finish Saturday night, but still came up one-point...
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