Youngstown State University
3-5, 0-2HL
Wright State
5-2, 2-0HL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youngstown State | 23 | 31 | 54 |
| Wright State | 28 | 39 | 67 |
Turnovers Prove Costly in Men's Basketball 67-54 Loss at Wright State
12/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dayton, Ohio -- Senior Sirlester Martin just missed his first double-double of the season with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds, but the Youngstown State men's basketball team committed 23 turnovers in a 67-54 loss to Horizon League foe Wright State on Saturday evening at the Nutter Center.
The Penguins fall to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the Horizon League while the Raiders improve to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the league.
Junior Vance Cooksey was the only other Penguin to reach double figures with 12 points.
After falling behind by eight, 37-29, five minutes into the second half, the Penguins clawed their way back into game, 42-40, with an 11-5 run sparked by a dunk by Eddie D'Haiti at the 13:39 mark.
The Penguins capitalized on technical foul on Wright State's Todd Brown and Cooksey and Vytas Sulskis each made two free throws to bring the Penguins within two, 39-37, with 12:04 to go,
After a three-point play by Wright State's Cooper Land extended the Raiders' lead back to five, 42-37, Cooksey drilled YSU's first 3-pointer of the game to cut the deficit back to two, 42-40, with 11:33 to go.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Troy Tabler, who scored a career-high 24 points and Ronnie Thomas ballooned Wright State's lead back to eight points, 48-40, at the 9:22 mark.
The Penguins would never cut the deficit under five points the rest of the way.
In the first half, Youngstown State made its first six shots of the game and jumped out to a 14-5 lead after two consecutive jumpers by Martin at the 13:32 mark.
The Raiders responded with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 15-14 lead with 8:47 to go.
The Guins went scoreless for more than six minutes and went without a made field goal for almost 10 minutes in the first half.
A free throw by senior Kelvin Bright gave the Penguins a 21-20 edge at the 2:45 mark, but the Raiders outscored the Penguins 8-2 to close out the half and take a 28-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Penguins are off for 11 days to prep for finals then take on Saint Francis (Pa.), Wednesday, Dec. 16. at 7 p.m.
