Youngstown State University
6-8, 1-4HL
UIC
5-10, 1-4HL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| UIC | 35 | 32 | 67 |
| Youngstown State | 39 | 37 | 76 |
Penguins Use Final Run to Earn First Horizon League Win, 76-67
1/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team used a strong push in the final nine minutes to take down UIC 76-67 on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. Junior forward Vytas Sulskis led the way tying his season high with 17 points.
Youngstown State (6-8 overall and 1-4 in the Horizon League) led 56-55 with 9:01 remaining before outscoring UIC (5-10 and 1-4) 20-12 the rest of the way to pick up its first Horizon League victory of the campaign.
The Penguins shot 56 percent in the first half, but led by just four at the break. UIC came out on fire to open the second half making its first five shots to steal the momentum.
On the heels of its run, UIC took its first lead of the game at 42-41 on a K.C. Robbins basket just over two minutes into the second half. The Flames eventually led 47-43 before the Penguins tied the contest at 47 and again at 49. The last time the contest was tied was at 14:05 when Dallas Blocker's layup evened the contest.
The Penguins scored seven of the next nine points to pull ahead 56-51 on a Sulskis basket. UIC answered with two free throws by Spencer Stewart and a jumper by Jeremy Buttell.
After allowing the Flames to get within one, the Penguins scored eight of the next 10 points to seize control of the contest. Sirlester Martin gave the Guins a 58-55 lead on a layup and Vance Cooksey followed with a 3-pointer.
YSU led 68-58 at the 4:18 mark two Sulskis free throws and led 72-60 on two Martin free throws with 2:04 remaining. The Flames made things interesting down the stretch pulling within 72-67 with 23 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Chris Buchanan, but that was close as they would come. YSU put the game back on ice making its final four free-throw attempts.
Buttell scored a career-high 31 points to lead the way for UIC while Kreps finished with 13.
For YSU, Mays 15 and Martin chipped in a dozen. Senior forward Zack Rebillott set a career high grabbing 11 rebounds.
YSU shot 46.3 percent from the game making 25-of-54 attempts. The Penguins were solid at the free-throw line making 18-of-20 attempts (90 percent). From behind the 3-point arc, the Guins shot 61.5 percent making 8-of-13 shots.
In the first half, YSU torched the nets making 14-of-25 shots to shoot 56 percent. The Flames were 14-of-31 in the opening stanza good for 45.2 percent.
The Penguins opened up an 18-6 led just over nine minutes into the game. After two Kreps free throws tied the contest at four, the Penguins went on a 14-2 run in the next 3:51 capped by a 3-pointer by Sulskis at the 10:51 mark.
UIC scored six consecutive points on treys by Buttell and Robo Kreps to cut the deficit in half at 18-12 with 9:23 remaining.
From that point, the Penguins were able to boost the lead back up to eight at 20-12 and 27-19, but could not get their advantage back into double digits.
The closest UIC would get was 32-30 on a Kreps layup with 2:12 left in the half. Two Martin free throws gave the Guins a 39-32 lead but a three-point play by Buttell cut the deficit to 39-35 at the break.
Buttell had 15 in the opening half while Kreps had 11. Ashen Ward came off the bench to lead the Guins with nine points as eight players found their way in the scoring column in the opening frame.
The Penguins close out a five-game homestand on Saturday night when they play host to Loyola. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 7:05 p.m.
