Youngstown State University
Detroit Mercy
Penguins Fall To Detroit in Overtime, 68-64
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team (6-15, 3-8 Horizon League used all it could muster to force overtime against Detroit (6-15, 1-10 Horizon League), but in overtime the Titans were able to get past the Penguins 68-64 on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.
YSU trailed 55-51 with 22 seconds left before rallying to force overtime. However in the extra session, the Titans outscored the Guins 13-9 to snap a 19-game Horizon League road losing streak.
In overtime, YSU never led. Detroit scored the opening bucket on a Eulius Stephens layup. After Tom Parks tied the game on two free throws each team missed shots before Detroit's Ryan Janer drained a 3-pointer and the Titans never trailed again.
Jack Liles answered Janer's trey with a basket to get the Guins within 60-59.
YSU had a chance to go in front following a Jokic miss, but Parks' 3-pointer was long.
With 54.8 seconds left, Thomas Kennedy's hanger in the paint put Detroit ahead 62-59. On the Guins' ensuing possession, Vytas Sulskis turned the ball over driving to the hoop and fouled Kennedy. Kennedy drained two free throws with 44.4 seconds left.
Sulskis redeemed himself draining a 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 64-62.
Woody Payne made two free throws a second later to push the advantage back to four. Sulskis scored on a driving layup with 21.8 seconds remaining to pull the Guins back within two.
Payne made one free throw with 19.1 seconds left. YSU had one last chance to tied the game but Sirlester Martin's long 3-point try with 10.8 seconds missed and Payne converted two free throws to seal the win.
It was YSU's first overtime contest since February 2006 against Loyola.
The Penguins trailed 54-49 with 1:28 left before battling back.
Sulskis scored on a layup to get the Guins within three. Stephens made one free throw to make the score 55-51. Sulskis made two free throws with 21.9 to trim the deficit to 55-53 and YSU forced a turnover on the inbounds play. Sulskis tied the game with 12.9 seconds to help force overtime.
With the loss YSU drops to 6-15 overall and 3-8 in the Horizon League. Detroit improves to 6-15 and 1-10 in the league.
Kennedy scored a game-high 24 points for the Titans while Sulskis finished with 15 to lead the Guins.
Jack Liles and Parks sparked a come-from-behind first-half effort to give the Guins a 28-27 lead at the break.
The two players combined to score 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Parks made three 3-pointers while Liles added two free throws. The rest of the team combined to make 3-of-13 shots from the field.
YSU came out firing connecting on its first three field goal attempts taking a 6-2 lead. However, the Guins made just one of their next 10 attempts and fell behind 18-10 on Chris Hayes' basket at the 8:41 mark.
Sulskis connected on a layup to get the Guin within 18-12. Hayes followed with a basket to push the lead back to eight.
From their, YSU went on a run. Following a Kelvin Bright free throw, Parks drained his first 3-pointer of the night. Liles kept the run going with a 13-footer to bring the Penguins within 20-18.
A Hayes free throw made the contest 21-18 in favor of Detroit, but Parks' second 3-pointrer knotted the game at 21.
Parks' third 3-pointer of the opening half gave the Guins a 26-25 lead with 2:08 left in the half. Martin knocked down a floater from six feet to put YSU ahead 28-25. Detroit's Stephens cut the deficit to one at the break.
Kennedy had a big first half for the Titans scoring 12 points. As a team Detroit shot 50 percent (12-of-24). Both teams combined to make 8-of-21 free-throw attempts.
The Penguins will play their first road game in nearly three weeks when they visit Loyola on Thursday night in Chicago. Tipoff at the Gentile Center is set for 8 p.m. and will be carried on NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
