The Town Crier

[PointGuard 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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.”

[PointGuard 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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.

Dynasty Threads

[PointGuard 70]

[PointGuard 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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.

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CBI Tournament

The 5th seed Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (16-13) took on the 4th seed Utah State Aggies (17-12) in the first round of the CBI Tournament’s West Regional. Led by C Jamil Weekes quick 10 points, Wisconsin-Green Bay sprinted out to a 14-0 lead just minutes into the game. Midway through the half, the Phoenix were ahead 20-6. The Aggies cut the lead to 7 points and at the end of half trailed by a score of 35-28. Weekes had 13 points in the half.

Utah State tied the game at 45-45 with 13-1/2 minutes left to play. But Wisconsin-Green Bay scored the next 10 points. With 4 minutes remaining, the Phoenix were ahead 71-50. Wisconsin-Green Bay recorded a resounding 78-59 lopsided victory. Utah State turned the ball over 23 times compared to 12 by the Phoenix. C Jamil Weekes scored 20 and pulled down 6 boards while SG Romain Perry scored 14, dished out 4 assists, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had 3 steals.


In their second game in the CBI Tournament, Wisconsin-Green Bay played #1 seed Alabama State (19-11). The Phoenix were unable to contain the Hornets in the first half. By the end of the half, Alabama State led 55-32. While the Phoenix were able to cut into the lead a little in the 2nd half, the hole was just too great to crawl out of and Wisconsin-Green Bay lost 82-66. PF Josh Abraham led the scoring for Wisconsin-Green Bay with 16 points.

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NCAA Tournament

Youngstown State (23-7) seeded #13 in the Midwest Region took on #18 ranked and #4 seed Alabama (23-7) in a first round matchup. Even though the Crimson Tide finished 3rd in the Southeastern Conference, they won that conference’s tournament. Four of their starters averaged in double figures and the fifth nearly averaged in double figures.

The Penguins scored the first 9 points of the game and Alabama didn’t score for the first 2-1/2 minutes when they connected on a free throw. YSU prevented Alabama from making a field goal for nearly 5-1/2 minutes. But a combination of multiple fouls called against the Penguins that sent Alabama repeatedly to the foul line and turnovers by YSU allowed the Crimson Tide to wrest the lead from YSU when an errant pass by Pat White was intercepted and Alabama scored on a driving layup to go ahead 16-15 at the 11:27 mark. The Crimson Tide rolled on from that point and by the end of the half led 46-30. Alabama’s turn-around resulted from them hitting 48% of their shots while holding YSU’s shooting to 38%. The Crimson Tide went to the line 15 more times where they scored 12 more points than the Penguins. YSU uncharacteristically had 10 turnovers in the half compared to just 4 by Alabama. PG Pat White led Youngstown State offensively with 9 points.

Alabama continued their onslaught throughout the 2nd half, seemingly scoring at will and opened as much as a 28 point lead. The Penguins made a late run that cut the lead to 12 but ‘Bama stopped the run and finished with a 95-77 thumping of Youngstown State. Alabama hit 57% of their shots for the entire game and held a 17-9 turnover advantage. 

PG Pat White scored 17, PF/C Andre Lilly hit for 16, and C Will O’Neil had 14 points for YSU. Alabama had 6 players scoring in double figures led by SF Charles Johnson who scored 18, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

“Alabama took us to school in the last 30 minutes of the game. We hoped to pull off an upset, but they’re so quick and physical that we had trouble keeping up with them,” said Coach KD Durst. “I was pleased by how we never game up and made a nice run late in the game. Our two seniors, BJ Dennis and William Swan both played well in their final collegiate game. We’ll miss them next season.”

The tournament concluded when Arizona won the national championship by beating Oklahoma State 89-85.

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Penguins Gather Awards
By Steve Porter

The Horizon League announced its award winners yesterday. Youngstown State was well-represented. 

For the second straight season the Horizon League Player of the Year is C Will O’Neil. The Defensive Player of the Year award went to SF Colin Chambliss. Coach Kendrick “KD” Durst is the league’s Coach of the Year for the 4th year in a row. Named to the league’s 1st Team All-Conference is Will O’Neil. A member of the 2nd Team All-Conference is PG Pat White.

Vic Morrissey, Youngstown State's Athletic Director, said, "All of these guys really deserved their awards following yet another great season. What's great is that the 3 players who garnered awards will be returning next year."

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Head Coach Change at YSU?
By Steve Porter

Rumors abound that KD Durst, the head coach of Youngstown State’s basketball team, is awash with offers from other schools. Thus far apparently he has just listened and not taken any action to follow up on those preliminary inquiries.

Durst has been the head coach of the Penguins for 6 years. Following two “building” seasons which took the team from the bottom of the Horizon League to respectability, his team has run off 4 straight league titles.

Bob Townsend, head of the Penguin Colony fan club, said, “We certainly don’t want to see KD leave. He’s done such a terrific job developing a top-notch program at Youngstown State. He’s recruited some exciting players and hopefully will want to see how they develop in the future. Unfortunately, I’m sure other schools are willing to pay him far more than YSU does, but he’s never indicated to me any dissatisfaction here. Although part-time starter BJ Dennis is graduating, all other starters are returning this coming season including Matt Angner, the other part-time starter at SG this past season. So next year’s team should be awesome. Hopefully KD will want to see how far he can take them.”

A source at the university said that Durst likes to build teams and now that the Penguins are riding high, there may be a strong desire for him to move on to a new challenge. Repeated calls to Durst have not been returned nor has he made any public comment.

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Ex-YSU Assistant Becomes Head Coach
By Steve Porter

Steve Simmons, who was an assistant coach under Coach KD Durst, has been hired as the head coach for the Gardner Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. Simmons was the recruiting assistant at YSU for 4 seasons. He then took a year off to complete a graduate degree. He returned to coaching this past season as an assistant at Davidson, helping the team post a 24-8 record, finish ranked #25 in the polls, and participate in the NCAA Tournament. That earned him the head coaching job at Gardner Webb for this coming season.

“It’s fantastic that Steve has become a head coach in Division 1. He’s earned it by his hard work and excellent capabilities. Steve definitely is taking on a challenge since Gardner Webb has posted just a total of 13 wins in the past 3 seasons. But he’s a heckuva recruiter, so I expect that the Runnin’ Bulldogs will become a force in the Big South Conference,” said Coach KD Durst.

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Durst Visits Other Colleges
By Steve Porter

The mystery concerning whether there will be a head coaching change at Youngstown State has taken on increased uncertainty. During the past week, Penguins head coach KD Durst visited the campuses of the University of Mississippi, Virginia Tech, and Kansas State where he reportedly spoke with officials of each university about their head coaching jobs. 

When contacted Durst said, “Yes, there have been a number of programs that have expressed interest in the possibility of my coaching there. After talking to Vic Morrissey, our AD, and gaining his concurrence, I narrowed the list to three that I decided to visit so I could take a look at their program and facilities and talk face-to-face with them. To be honest, each of the three has some attractive opportunities for me, but I’m in the review and consideration stage yet. I’m still the head coach at YSU and have made no decision whatsoever about leaving what I consider to be a great job. I don’t believe in leaving people in limbo though, so want to make a decision quickly, probably within the next 3 or 4 days.”

Morrissey confirmed that Durst talked with him about checking out offers. “While we really want KD to continue coaching the Penguins, I felt it was only fair that he have the opportunity to look at other options. But we’re actively talking with him about what it will take for him to continue building on the success he has created within our program.”

Additionally, it’s reported that Durst has been contacted by several local businesses about being a spokesman for them. That would increase his potential earnings beyond what his YSU contract provides.

Dr. Barry Franklin, who retired recently after being a long-term professor at YSU, said, “Along with others, I congratulate Coach Durst on his success here. But we’re concerned about athletics at the university being given too much importance and siphoning much needed revenue from a financially-strapped school. It’s important that scholastics remain YSU’s top priority. It would be a major mistake for the university to spend money that is critically needed for the education of our students on the basketball program and its staff. Other schools may be in a better able to pay Durst what he is worth in the Division 1 basketball world. YSU is not in the position to get into a bidding war for his services. We’ve made our concerns known to Youngstown State’s President and its Board of Trustees. It’s my understanding that the Youngstown State Faculty Senate has also expressed reservations to the President of the University about funds being siphoned from academics to athletics.”

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Durst Makes Decision
By Steve Porter

Vic Morrissey, Youngstown State Athletic Director, announced that Coach Kendrick “KD” Durst has accepted a new contract to continue coaching the Penguins. “We’re very pleased that KD will continue the excellent job he has done rebuilding our men’s basketball program. The team’s 96-33 record the past 4 seasons with 3 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament following a season where he took the team to the semifinals of the NIT is a testament to his success,” said Morrissey.

A source within the university has said that Durst was seriously considering offers from several colleges in need of rebuilding of their programs in major conferences. Apparently Virginia Tech nearly convinced him to take a much higher paying job and develop a Hokies team that has been languishing at the bottom of the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference. But Durst was persuaded to remain at Youngstown State not only due to a contract extension with a significant raise in salary, but also the university committing to a solid increase in the team’s recruiting budget for next season.

YSU’s starting PG Pat White stated, “I’m so relieved that Coach Durst has decided to stay on at YSU. He’s one of the big reasons I transferred here after playing a year at Oregon. So I personally wanted to finish my Penguins’ career with Coach Durst at the helm.”

Morrissey also announced that at the conclusion of his contract Kirk Smith, the team’s 2nd Assistant, has decided to move on to be an assistant coach at Radford so he can be closer to his family. In his place, YSU has hired Donnell Weems as 2nd assistant coach in charge of scouting. Weems is 50 and has been an assistant coach at Kennesaw State the past two seasons where he helped the Owls reach the NCAA Tourney this past season. Brandon Warren will continue as YSU’s 1st assistant in charge of player development and Shannon Winn will remain as 3rd assistant handling recruiting.

Smith’s move to Radford expands the number of Durst’s proteges who are now populating coaching jobs in Division 1 ball. As previously reported, Steve Simmons is the new head coach at Gardner Webb. A.D. McKenna is 1st Assistant at Montana, Miguel West is 3rd Assistant for Marquette, and Raymond Harrington is 2nd Assistant at Harvard. “It’s great to see these guys fill important jobs. They’re all rising stars in the coaching world,” commented Coach KD Durst.

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Wayne23 wrote in Wolverine Studios forum: 

 

WADDA YA NUTS!!! Ya coulda gone ta a bigger, better school for more money, a bigger budget... CHEEZ!!!

 

 

Heh, well here’s some examples of coaches who didn’t jump at moving up to “bigger, better” schools and earning more money with a bigger budget:

Everett Shelton, 21 yrs and 328 wins at Wyoming

Doggie Julian, 18 yrs at Dartmouth with 3 NCAA berths

Pete Carril, 514 wins at Princeton with 11 NCAA berths (and creation of the Princeton Offense)

Edgar Diddle, 43 years and 759 wins at Western Kentucky

Jim Phelan, 49 yrs and 830 wins at Mount St. Mary’s

Clair Bee, 21 yrs at Rider and Long Island University, .824 winning percentage, 43 consecutive wins at LIU, invented 1-3-1 zone

Phil Woolpert, 243-168 record at San Francisco and San Diego including 60 game win streak (oh, do the names Bill Russell, Hal Perry and KC Jones ring any bells…Woolpert challenged convention by using those 3 black starters at the same time). After retiring he became a school bus driver in Sequim, Washington.

Oh yeah, none of those schools are big name NCAA schools or from power conferences.  

KD Durst hasn’t created an offense or zone, but is getting known for his “Recruit like it means…EVERYTHING” philosophy. 

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Durst Makes Surprise Announcement
By Steve Porter

On the heels of his recent agreement to continue as head coach for Youngstown State, KD Durst announced that he will be marrying Jacqueline Potrero in early June. Those close to Durst seemed surprised by the news. Meg Laundreau, the administrative assistant for the Athletic Department, exclaimed, “This was a shock but definitely a pleasant one. KD keeps his private life very private so none of us knew that he was seriously involved with anyone. Jacqueline attends a lot of basketball and football games at YSU and has been an active member of the Penguins Colony so we all know and like her. We’re all excited by the news of their impending marriage and happy that KD’s found his soulmate.”

Ms Potrero is a graduate of Smith College and is Director of Marketing for Darnell Industries in Youngstown. She moved to the area two years ago when the company took over the Vorstadt Metals plant that had been vacant since 1979 in the midst of major deindustrialization that decimated the city and resulted in the loss of over 50% of the city’s population. Darnell has been a stabilizing factor in the city’s economy and has also been a major supporter of Youngstown State athletics.

Last year the NCAA investigated activities of Carlton Darnell, Vice President of the company and son of the company’s founder Bradford Darnell, due to allegations of possible improper actions involving recruits of the University. No action by the NCAA resulted from their investigation.

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YSU Recruiting Cranks into High Gear
By Steve Porter

The Penguins basketball program recently stepped up their recruiting efforts with the aim of filling 4 scholarships that will come available at the end of this coming season. 

Shannon Winn, the recruiting assistant for Coach KD Durst, said, “Following a year when recruiting was at a low ebb and we had but two scholarships to fill, we will now have four players graduating next May. PG Pat White, SG Matt Angner, and SF’s Colin Chambliss and Lee Pauly will complete their eligibility. While our strong interior core will remain intact, that means we need to bring in some strong perimeter players.”

Winn indicated that beyond making good use of the Midwest Recruiting Report, the team will be attending the Chicago Prep Revue. “We’re still focusing on recruits within the region but it’d be great to steal one or two good ones from outside the region so we’ll keep our feelers out there. Now that we’ve been to the NCAA Tourney the past 3 years, we’re beginning to get known a little outside the region. It’s still difficult to go up against the many great programs around the country that have much larger recruiting budgets, so we need to be smart, efficient … and aggressive,” Winn acknowledged.

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Durst Cries "FOUL!"
By Steve Porter

The 2022-2023 basketball schedule for the Youngstown State Penguins was released today by the school’s athletic department. Only 2 of the team’s 9 pre-conference games will be at home.

@ Ohio
@ Gardner Webb
@ Massachusetts
@ Kansas State
DUQUESNE
@ George Mason
UTEP
@ Ball State
@ UNLV

“I asked Vic Morrissey for a ‘balanced’ schedule, but I guess he understood my request to be a ‘bad-assed’ schedule,” commented Coach KD Durst. “7 of 9 on the road. We’re going to have to play our asses off to come out of this with a decent record. But we wanted to play some good teams and getting good teams to come here to go up against us. I’m happy he was able to schedule a game with Gardner Webb, though. It will be fun to take on Steve Simmons team.” Simmons was an assistant coach for Durst before taking on the head coaching reins for the Bulldogs a few months ago.