The Town Crier

[PointGuard 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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:

Dynasty Threads: 

[PointGuard 70]

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 70]

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 70]

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.”

[PointGuard 70]

Horizon League Tournament—Championship
By Steve Porter

Few would have predicted that the championship game would have the #1 seed up against the #10 seed. But both teams have dominated in their tournament games, so something had to give when they came up against each other.

#10 Milwaukee Panthers (11-19, 5-13) vs Youngstown State Penguins (23-6, 14-4): The Penguins beat the Panthers twice this season by nearly identical scores, 92-69 and 92-66. But Milwaukee won by 27 over Wright State and then easily handled #2 seed Detroit and #3 seed Oakland. C Eugene Danielson had 2 huge offensive games and then PG Shantay Toliver was an offensive juggernaut in their other win.

The Penguins shot well early taking to take a lead that was reduced as the refs called a series of fouls against YSU sending the Panthers to the line frequently. With 5-1/2 minutes to go, Milwaukee took its first lead at 24-23 after converting two foul shots. The Penguins immediately recaptured the lead and went on a 12-0 run. The half ended with YSU holding a 37-28 lead. The Penguins’ defense limited Milwaukee’s shooting to 27%. PF Aaron Tice scored 9 points. C Eugene Danielson scored 14 for the Panthers.

The refs again tagged Youngstown State with a series of fouls early in the 2nd half and Milwaukee cut the lead to just 5 points. The Penguins scored 17 unanswered points giving themselves breathing room with a 56-34 lead. YSU then never let up and continued to pull away as their defense stymied the Panthers. When the buzzer sounded, Youngstown State had stomped Milwuakee 81-53 to win the Horizon League Championship. YSU outshot the Panthers 54% to 33% and held a 22-10 turnover advantage. 

PG Pat White had a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists as well as getting 3 steals and 2 blocks. C Will O’Neil and PF Aaron Tice both scored 13. SF Colin Chambliss added 11. C Eugene Danielson scored 18 for Milwaukee.

“Milwaukee made a couple runs that put a scare into us, but each time it was gut-check time for our guys and they responded with huge runs that gave us solid leads,” said Coach KD Durst.

PF Aaron Tice exuberantly exclaimed, “We’re going back to March Madness! We’ve accomplished all but one goal now. We focused on every game we played and have won 24 games thus far, we finished in 1st place in the league standings, and we won the conference tournament. We’re likely to be viewed as underdogs in the NCAA Tourney, so now we just need to crank off some upset wins there.”

[PointGuard 70]

Penguins Player and Team Stats
By Steve Porter

Coach KD Durst’s Youngstown State Penguins have a 24-6 record and their RPI is 36th best in Division I. They have averaged 77.8 ppg (32nd highest in Division I) while only allowing their opponents to average 66.3 ppg (22nd lowest in Division I). They’ve out-rebounded their opponents 35.1 rpg to 31.3 rpg and have averaged just 11.8 topg while forcing their opponents to make 17.0 topg.
Here are the individual player statistics for their roster:

[PointGuard 70]

Horizon League Teams in Tournaments
By Steve Porter

When Youngstown State won the Horizon League Tournament, that cemented their inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. But once the brackets were announced for that tournament, the three other tournaments (NIT, CBI, and CIT) were able to set up their tournaments. Each of those tournaments picked one Horizon League team to participate. Here’s how the four Horizon League teams are seeded and who they will play in round 1 of their respective tournament:

NCAA:
Youngstown State (11th seed in Midwest Region) will play #6 seed and 15th ranked Cincinnati

NIT:
Wisconsin-Green Bay (7th seed in South Region) will play #2 seed Villanova

CBI:
Oakland (4th seed in West Region) will play #5 seed S.E. Missouri State

CIT:
Detroit (8th seed in East Region) will play #1 seed North Carolina St.

[PointGuard 70]

Post-Season Tournament Game Summaries
By Steve Porter

CIT Round 1: #8 seed Detroit Titans (17-11) vs #1 seed North Carolina State Wolfpack (17-13)—Led by SF Dwayne Poge’s two 3 pointers, the Titans jumped out on top 10-2 after just over 2 minutes of play. Detroit maintained a 4-9 point lead until the Wolfpack caught up and took a lead with 3-1/2 minutes left in the first half. The lead see-sawed back and forth with NC State holding a thin 43-42 margin at the break. Detroit’s PF Copley Scott led all scorers with 10 points. NC State pulled away in the middle part of the 2nd half and opened a 70-50 lead with 10-1/2 minutes to play. Detroit was unable to make a significant dent in the deficit. The Wolfpack whipped the Titans 90-72 as NC State outshot Detroit 52% to 42% and held a 17-5 turnover advantage. Detroit’s C William Rogers had a double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds). For NC State C Ericson Lazosky scored 20 and pulled down 9 boards.

NIT Round 1: #7 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (17-12) vs #2 seed Villanova Wildcats (17-13)—The Phoenix hung with Villanova for the first 3 minutes but then the Wildcats began to pull away. At the midpoint of the first half, Wisconsin-Green Bay trailed by 13. The Phoenix then tightened their defense and closed to within 9 at 45-36 when the half ended. C Steve Lawson scored 17 for Villanova while C Pete Richmond had 12 for Wisconsin-Green Bay. After 4 minutes of play in the 2nd half the Phoenix, led by PG Valter Morris and C Pete Richmond, had cut Villanova’s lead to 53-48. But with 11 minutes to go Villanova had stretched their lead to 16. The Phoenix continued to hang in the game though and with 9-1/2 minutes to go the score was 71-64 and Villanova’s home crowd was quieted. With 3 minutes to go there still was a 7 point difference and the Phoenix had possession coming out of a time out. Valter Morris got free for a 15 foot jumper that went clearly through the net making it 84-79. The next 3 possessions ended with the teams alternating with missed 3 point shots, but then the Wildcats fouled Pete Richmond inside for a 1-and-1 with 1:25 to play. Richmond missed the free throw but after rebounding Villanova threw the ball away as they tried to take time off the clock. Wisconsin-Green Bay called a time out to set up a 3 point shot but it went off the rim. ‘Nova was intentionally fouled and converted both free throws. The Phoenix hit a quick shot to make it 86-81 with 33 seconds on the clock and fouled again. This time Villanova made only one free throw. The Phoenix called a time out and again missed their resulting 3 point attempt. After a quick series of changes in possessions, Wisconsin Green Bay tipped in a shot at the buzzer but it only reduced Villanova’s winning margin to 87-83. Villanova’s C Steve Lawson had an awesome game, scoring 30, grabbing 8 boards, dishing out 3 assists, and making 3 steals and 2 blocks. SG Pat Alexander scored 21 for the Wildcats. Both C Pete Richmond and PG Valter Morris scored 18 for Wisconsin-Green Bay with Richmond garnering 10 rebounds and Morris having 7 assists.

CBI round 1: #5 seed S.E. Missouri State Redhawks (17-11) vs #4 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (17-12)—Oakland maintained a small lead throughout the first half which ended with the Golden Grizzlies holding a 37-33 edge. Oakland expanded their lead to 10 early in the 2nd half, but the Redhawks then began to reel them in. With 27 seconds remaining, the Redhawks hit a contested 12 footer that reduced Oakland’s lead to a single point. The Golden Grizzlies missed the front end of a one-and-one and S.E. Missouri State brought it up court with a chance to win. But Oakland’s SF Chris Lovett stole the ball and passed it up court to a streaking Keanan Cole who jammed it down to ice the game. Oakland pulled out a 72-69 victory to send them on to round 2. C Gary Johnson led Oakland offensively with 15 points. SG Donte Jones scored 20 for S.E. Missouri State.

CBI round 2: #4 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (18-12) vs #1 seed Duke Blue Devils (15-14)—Oakland took an early 5 point lead, but that dissolved midway through the first half as Duke’s defense shut down the Golden Grizzlies. By the end of the half, Duke was on top 40-27. The Blue Devils then blew Oakland away in the 2nd half and opened as much as a 31 point lead. The final score was: Duke-79, Oakland-51. Duke out-rebounded Oakland 41-29 and held a 22-6 turnover advantage. SF Wayne Webber scored 19 for Duke and PF John McKarney had a double-double (10 points and 13 rebounds). SG Donte Ferguson put in 13 points to lead Oakland.

NCAA Round 1:

Penguins Plucked by Bearcats
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State (24-6) faced a big challenge when they faced the #15-ranked and #6-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats (23-9) in round 1 of the NCAA Tournament. Cincinnati was led by their hot-shooting outside duo of PG Bobby Harrington (21.8 ppg) and SG Todd Johnson (16.0 ppg). 

Cincinnati opened the scoring, but with 16:52 on the clock PF Aaron Tice scored inside and was fouled on the play. He converted the 3 point play giving YSU its first lead at 9-8. The Bearcats then scored 11 unanswered points. With the Penguins shooting horribly, Cincinnati opened a 19 point lead with 3 minutes remaining in the first half. The half ended with Youngstown State on the wrong end of a 50-32 score. In the first half, YSU was outshot 55% to 31%. C Will O’Neil carried the load offensively for the Penguins with 15 points. O’Neil also was credited with 6 rebounds. SG Todd Johnson hit for 13 for Cincinnati.

The double digit deficit stayed intact in the 2nd half. ith 11 minutes left in the 2nd half, PG Pat White cut under the basket, took a pass, turned and put the ball in to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 63-54. Then PF Lee Pauly put in a 14-footer with 8:38 remaining to make it 66-58. But that’s as close as the Penguins would get. From there the Bearcats sprinted away to an 87-69 knockout of the Penguins. 

C Will O’Neil scored 26 and hauled down 12 rebounds and hit 10 of his 15 FG attempts. But the Penguins as a team hit just 40% of their shots compared to Cincinnati which knocked down 51% of their FG attempts. For Cincinnati, SG Todd Johnson scored 38 plus grabbed 9 boards and dished out 9 assists.

“We were hoping to get deeper into the tournament. But Cincinnati is a very good team,” said Coach KD Durst. “They were much quicker than us, and the Bearcats defense made it tough for us to get clear so we hit a low percentage of our shots. That spelled our defeat. Even though we didn’t get past the first round, I’m proud of how well our guys developed and came together to play as a team this season. We just came up against a better team tonight.”

Pat Walker, head coach for Cincinnati, said, “We knew that Will O’Neil had some good stats coming in and we were determined to stop him. But we simply couldn’t do it. He’s a heckuva player. It’s hard to believe he’s just a freshman.”

[PointGuard 70]

Youngstown State Announces Big Recruit Signing
By Steve Porter

The athletic department for Youngstown State announced that Andre Lilly, a 6-10 center from St. David’s High School in Raleigh, North Carolina has decided to play basketball for the Penguins next year. In his senior year, Lilly averaged 19.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 2.5 spg, and 4.4 bpg. He’s ranked as the 36th best recruit in the nation.

“Lilly is a real force inside, scoring and rebounding well. And he’s a fearsome shot blocker. We’re so excited to have a guy with so much raw talent coming our way. I’m salivating thinking of him teaming up with Will O’Neil inside,” said 1st assistant coach Brandon Warren.

Lilly’s commitment leaves 2 unfilled scholarships left for the Penguins to fill in the coming month. Warren added, “Yeah, we got 2 to fill, but I’m optimistic since we have a number of recruits who are interested and have us on their short list.”

[PointGuard 70]

Tournament Championship Game Results:

CIT: North Carolina State-100, Eastern Kentucky-77

CBI: Western Illinois-68, Nevada-59

NIT: Texas State-78, Miami (OH)-68

NCAA: Arizona-84, Maryland-61

[PointGuard 70]

Horizon League Honors Penguins
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State Penguins dominated the Horizon League awards that were announced yesterday. All of the major individual awards went to Penguins as well as 3 of the 10 players named to the All-Conference Teams. Here is a list of those from the Penguins who were given awards:

Horizon League Player of the Year—Will O’Neil

Horizon League Freshman of the Year—Will O’Neil

Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year—Aaron Tice

Horizon League Coach of the Year—Kendrick “KD” Durst

Horizon League 1st Team All-Conference—Will O’Neil

Horizon League 2nd Team All-Conference—Colin Chambliss

Horizon League 2nd Team All-Conference—Aaron Tice

[PointGuard 70]

Penguins Recruiting News
By Steve Porter

Matt Stafford became the 3rd recruit sighted by Youngstown State. Stafford is from Detroit, Michigan and is a 6-2 PG. He averaged 16.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, and 1.8 spg in his senior season at East Catholic High School. He’s reported to be a good scorer with an excellent outside shot. He’s a strong passer and ball handler and a good defender. His high school coach has indicated while he’s not a leader, he doesn’t cause problems, that he’s not had problems with injuries, and is a hard worker. He’s ranked as the 453rd best recruit in the country.

The next day the final scholarship was filled when Matt Angner committed to play for the Penguins. Angner, a 6-5 SG from Harriman, Tennessee, will be transferring from junior college where he averaged 16.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.8 spg, and 1.9 bpg. He’s a strong scorer who has a sweet outside shot but also is very effective inside as well. He’s a solid rebounder and defender and an adept ball handler. He’s ranked as the 99th best recruit nationally.

Coach KD Durst was effusive in his praise of the incoming class of recruits saying, “We think Angner can step right in and make some immediate contributions. And we're in a position this coming season to give Stafford time to mature and develop into what we think will be a solid performer. Coach Brandon Warren did an excellent recruiting job this year. We landed 4 excellent players who will be big assets to our program and fill holes that are critical to our program."

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Season’s End Creates Questions For Upcoming Year
By Steve Porter

With the departure of four seniors due to graduation, three of whom played key parts in the Penguins success in the past three years, the question becomes “will they be able to prevail in the Horizon League?” The loss of PF Aaron Tice who has been a dominant force inside with consistent scoring and exceptionally strong rebounding and defense leaves a big hole to fill. Coupled with this is C/PF Kent Jones departure. While not a starter, Jones has been a talented and stabilizing substitute who could be counted upon to make solid contributions on both ends of the floor. PG Lenihan Murphy has been a part-time starter, and when not starting, an effective substitute in directing and contributing to the team’s offense.

The coaching staff has been effusive about the incoming class of recruits. They do come with good pedigrees in high school and junior college, but all may take time to mature and become effective at the Division I level of competition. No one should expect that they will immediately make the contributions that Will O’Neil made as a freshman this past season. Most players take a year or more to develop into key assets.

The team does have a good core with Pat White returning at PG (but this is no other PG with experience), part-time starters William Swan and B.J. Dennis back at SG plus Noel Manley now has a year of limited experience at SG, Colin Chambliss and James Asbury returning at SF, Lee Pauly again able to fill in at PF or SF, and Will O’Neil back at C. So the starting lineup should be solid, but unless some of the freshman, particularly at interior positions, are able to contribute quickly, depth could be a problem. So that puts pressure on freshmen Andre Lily and Morris Phelan as well as sophomore LeRoy Delea to be able to contribute on the inside.

Fans will look forward to seeing how the Penguins do in 2021-2022 and can only hope they can continue their recent success. But that’s all dependent upon how the incoming players perform and how the coaching staff melds the team together.

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Coaching Changes at YSU
By Steve Porter

Earlier this week the athletic department at Youngstown State announced that the contract for 2nd Assistant Coach Raymond Harrington had not been renewed. Subsequently it was learned that Harrington had been hired as 2nd assistant at Harvard.

Yesterday Athletic Director Vic Morrissey announced that Kirk Smith had been promoted from 3rd assistant to 2nd assistant coach and that Shannon Winn had been hired as the Penguins new 3rd assistant. Winn, age 52, previously was 2nd assistant at Montana for the past 5 years and helped develop the team from a week 5-22 record during his first year to two NCAA tournament visits the last 2 years. He has a reputation as an effective player development coach and is expected to fill that role for Coach KD Durst at Youngstown State.

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Are YSU Inactions Jeopardizing Coach’s Longevity?
By Steve Porter

Rumor has it that Coach KD Durst may be kicking himself after turning down head coaching jobs proffered by other colleges following another successful season at YSU. A reliable source says that Durst has been asking for facility upgrades after each season, but that the university board has rejected the request every year including after the last two seasons when Durst led his team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. According to the same source, Durst feels that the current state of the facilities is hampering recruiting and that upgraded facilities would aid player development and increase the number of fans attending which would make the home court advantage bigger.

In the 5 seasons Durst has been head coach for the Penguins, they have a record of 103-56 (.648), have finished atop the Horizon League standings 3 times, won the league tournament 2 times, had three 20-win seasons the last 3 years (the team has gone 73-25 during those seasons), been to the NCAA tourney twice, the NIT once (the team got all the way to the semifinals), and the CBI tourney once. Durst has been named the league’s coach of the year 3 times. 

Fans are concerned Durst may seek in the near future a job at a college where his talents will be more appreciated. John Parsons, a long time fan of the team said, “Coach Durst’s record speaks for itself on how successful he’s been here. The university should recognize that by granting his request. We need to keep him as our coach.”

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Penguins Upgrade Schedule
By Steve Porter

The Youngstown State athletic department published the team’s 2021-2022 schedule. The pre-conference schedule is significantly tougher than in previous years, although five of the nine games this season will be at home. Coach KD Durst explained, “It’s time for us to challenge ourselves more. This is the first step in that process. If we’re successful, we can take on even tougher competition in the future. The one thing I’m very unhappy about is that, even though we’ve been to the NCAA tournament the past two years, we still haven’t been given an invitation to a pre-conference tournament. We deserve that and it’s a travesty that we continue to be slighted. There’s a lot of teams that will be in those tournaments that haven’t made it to the Big Dance in either of the years we’ve made it. Maybe it goes in tandem with many of the high prestige programs being willing to play us on their home courts, but afraid to play us in Youngstown. We might have a lackluster history, but we have a bright present and future and it’s time for us to get the respect that should engender.”

The Penguins pre-conference schedule: 

@ SMU
@ Georgia Southern
ARIZONA STATE
ST. BONAVENTURE
BALL STATE
NORTHWESTERN
@ Virginia Tech
UNC GREENSBORO
@ Stanford

Following that the 18-game Horizon League competition begins on December 27 when the Penguins host Valparaiso.

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Recruits Commit to Youngstown State
By Steve Porter

The Penguins have received verbal commitments from two recruits for next season. No further scholarships are available to be awarded. 

The first recruit to commit was Donnie Williams who attends BellevilleTownship East High School in Belleville, Illinois is a 6-7 PF. Last season Williams scored 15.2 ppg, pulled down 8.4 rpg, dished out 1.5 apg, and had 1.6 spg and 1.5 bpg.

The second recruit is Mike Lofton, a 6-4 SG from Ashtabula, Ohio who attends Saint John Paul High School where he averaged 11.0 ppg, 2.9 apg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 spg, and 0.7 bpg last season. 

Brandon Warren, YSU’s 1st assistant coach in charge of recruiting, said, “We’re happy to have filled both of our available scholarships so early this year. Our recruiting budget is nearly exhausted. So it would have been difficult to be able to pursue and sign anyone in the spring as we have done in previous years.”

When asked about the recruits, Warren responded, “Both are good players but we’re not anticipating that they will immediately take key roles. Rather, we expect to work with them with the aim of having them contribute in their final 3 years at YSU. Williams is a good inside scorer with solid defensive and rebounding skills. He’s presently ranked as the 367th best recruit in the country, although he has previously be rated higher and I suspect his ranking will improve as he plays out his senior year. Donnie was a top 25 player at the Chicago Prep Review this summer. Lofton is a hard-working kid who is a gym rat. He’s not been a prolific scorer but has a nice shot from outside. He’s an excellent passer and ball hawk. His recruit ranking has also slipped some recently. He’s presently rated as the #852 recruit in the nation, but like Williams, that is likely to improve as the season progresses.”

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Penguins Gear Up for Season’s Start
By Steve Porter

With the season about to get underway, I interviewed Coach KD Durst to see what his thoughts were going into his sixth season:

Porter: So Coach, do you have a set starting lineup going into this season?
Durst: Not at all, Steve. Only two of the five positions are set. Junior Pat White will start at PG and sophomore Will O’Neil will start at C. We’ll do some experimenting during pre-conference play to see how the other 3 positions work out.
Porter: What are some of your options for the rest of the starting lineup?
Durst: Our two seniors, B.J. Dennis and William Swan, have the inside track to start at SG and of course both started for us last season. But sophomore Noel Manning and JC transfer Matt Angner have shown the ability to put some points on the board so one or both of them may challenge as the season progresses.
Swan, along with freshman Matt Stafford and junior walk-on Blake Elleby, will back up Pat White at PG.
Junior Colin Chambliss is the incumbent starter at SF, but sophomore James Asbury has been shooting very well from outside. We could start Asbury at SF and start Chambliss at PF. Colin is only 6-3 but he plays much bigger and is a great rebounder and can score well inside as well as outside. Actually Colin has the talent and ability to play SG and even PG for us if we need it.
Junior Lee Pauly might start for us at PF. He’s a natural SF but last season showed the ability to handle himself inside and do a good job rebounding. Along with Chambliss, another option to start at PF is freshman Andre Lilly. He looks like a very strong inside scorer so he’s going to see a lot of time at both PF and C. We also have sophomore LeRoy Delea and senior walk-on Mike Watson who will provide back up at PF.
Lilly and freshman Morris Phelan will be our backups at C to Will O’Neil.
So with all those options we just need to see how guys produce once games start and how they develop and mature during the season.
Porter: How do you expect your team to do this season?
Durst: That’s hard to say. Things are more uncertain that last season. Certainly that’s obvious from what I’ve said with regard to starters and subs. We have a good core and if our returning players improve their skills as we expect, we should do OK. But we have 4 new guys who still need to get familiar with our offensive and defensive sets as well as blending into our team. Additionally, our pre-conference schedule is definitely tougher than we’ve had in the past. I think we’ll have an exciting team this season. But we’ll just have to let things play out and see where we are at the end of the season.

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Penguins Ride Herd On Mustangs
By Steve Porter

When they journeyed to Texas for their season opener against SMU, all Youngstown State’s starters were familiar names with Pat White at PG, B.J. Dennis at SG, Colin Chambliss at SF, Lee Pauly at PF, and Will O’Neil at C. Pauly was the only one to not start a game previously but he saw action in most all games last season.

The Mustangs scored 6 points before the Penguins got on the board at the 17:18 mark when Colin Chambliss took a pass from Pat White inside and drove to the hoop for a thunderous dunk. Freshman C Andre Lilly scored 4 points in his first 2 minutes on the court to put YSU on top 14-12 with 12-1/2 minutes left in the half. SMU then ran off 9 unanswered points. After falling behind by as much as 11 points due to poor shooting, the Penguins fought their way back, mainly at the foul line and with 3-1/2 minutes left in the half, SF William Swan sunk a 3-pointer that put YSU back on top 32-30. The lead shifted back and forth the remainder of the half. Youngstown State came out of it with a slim 42-41 lead. C Will O’Neil scored 13 points with Andre Lilly adding 9.

In the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half with both teams shooting at a low percentage, the refs continued to exercise their whistles so a parade of players going to the free throw line kept the score advancing with the Penguins maintaining a small lead. After a time out, the Penguins freed SG B.J. Dennis up for a 16 foot jumper that gave them a 10 point lead at 68-58 with 7:48 remaining. YSU maintained their double-digit lead until a last second 3 by the Mustangs finalized the score at Youngstown State-85, SMU-76. In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Penguins improved their shooting to hit 48% of their shots by the end of the game whereas SMU only scored on 35% of their shots. The Penguins held small advantages on all team statistics with the exception of 3’s where YSU hit just 1 of 13.

C Will O’Neil started the season where he left off last year by leading the Penguins scoring with 21 points. C Andre Lilly scored 15 while SG/PG William Swan added 11. SF Colin Chambliss hauled down 10 rebounds and had 5 blocks and PG Pat White had 9 assists.

“Of course we all know what Will O’Neil can do, but Andre Lilly’s ability to come off the bench to spell him and take over right where Will left off was huge,” said Coach KD Durst. “Our guys put things together real well in the 2nd half. We were able to get our entire bench some playing time and everyone contributed something. I was really proud of our defense. Even though the Mustangs scored 76 points, 25 of those were from the free throw line. We held their shooting well under 40% and had 8 blocks and 8 steals.”

When asked about his first game, Andre Lilly responded, “I was excited about getting into the game. Fortunately Pat White fed me a pass right away where I could get in and put the ball in the hoop. From there on I just got more and more comfortable out there. It was a lot more difficult establishing good positioning for rebounds than in high school, so I know I gotta work on that more.”

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Penguins Fly Higher Than Eagles
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State overcame some early turnovers to pull ahead 20-6 after trailing Georgia Southern by four points. The Eagles then closed late to within 2 points, but the Penguins scored the last 6 points in the half to take a 36-28 lead to the locker room. YSU dominated the boards 24-11 but made 8 turnovers. C Will O’Neil scored 13 and hauled down 6 boards in the half.

The Penguins held onto a small lead in the 2nd half but couldn’t pull away and then with 7:11 remaining, Georgia Southern went ahead 55-53 as YSU’s shooting went ice-cold. In the final 3 minutes the Penguins fought back to take a 4 point lead and then PG Pat White hit a 3 from the corner that put them ahead 67-60 with 1-1/2 minutes remaining. The Penguins then stopped the Eagles defensively and won going away 71-60. YSU outshot Georgia Southern 50% to 30% and held a 45-29 rebounding advantage, but made 16 turnovers to the Eagles’ 11.

C Will O’Neil dumped in 25 points while yanking down 9 rebounds. PG Pat White had a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. SF Colin Chambliss scored 8 and had 11 boards. For Georgia Southern, SG DerMarr Williams hit for 19 points, dished out 4 assists, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had 3 steals.

“We had a real letdown in the 2nd half but were able to pull it together late,” said Coach KD Durst. “I wasn’t happy with all of our turnovers though, so guess what we’ll be working on in practice.”