Youngstown State University
7-12, 1-8,HL
Detroit Mercy
11-10, 5-4HL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 41 | 32 | 73 |
| Youngstown State | 40 | 29 | 69 |
Guins Suffer Another Tough One, Fall 73-69 to Detroit
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team battled all night with Detroit, but a cold spell from the field and an off night from the free throw line resulted in another tough loss for the Penguins as they fell 73-69 on Saturday at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins overcame a slow start with seven first-half 3-pointers, but they were held to three field goals in the final 11 minutes. Still, they had several opportunities late to come away with a victory.
Detroit's Chris Blake split a pair of free throws to make the score 69-66 with 43 seconds remaining, and Blake Allen missed a 3-pointer on YSU's next possession. Ray McCallum split a pair of free throws to put the Titans up four with 30 ticks left, but Kendrick Perry hit a triple with 19 seconds remaining to make the score 70-69.
Nick Minnerath split a pair of free throws for Detroit, and Allen missed a contested 3-point attempt in the corner on YSU's possession. The Penguins were forced to foul, and Blake hit both free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining to seal the win.
YSU finished with 11 3-pointers, and five players hit multiple treys. Allen hit three and scored 15 points, and Vytas Sulskis nailed two en route to 15 points of his own. Allen added a game-high six assists for YSU, which also lost by four on Thursday night to Wright State.
The Penguins were 7-for-17 from beyond the arc in the opening period but slowed down to make 4-of-15 in the second half.
Blake finished with 20 points for Detroit, which placed four players in double figures. YSU hit seven more 3-pointers than Detroit, but the Penguins were 6-for-14 from the free-throw line and were outscored 21-6 from the charity stripe. The game featured 12 lead changes and five ties.
YSU had to climb uphill in the first half after Detroit raced out to an 18-8 lead just over five minutes into the contest. YSU climbed to within five twice, but Detroit still led by 10 at 28-18 with 10:26 left on the clock.
YSU scored the next seven points and finally tied the contest at 33-33 when Perry broke through for a two-handed jam off a steal with 5:40 left. That capped a 15-5 run for the Penguins. A DuShawn Brooks trey tied the score again at 36, and Tre Brewer's putback with 1:47 left gave the Penguins their first lead since the opening three-and-a-half minutes.
Detroit scored the next five points to go up 41-38, and Allen's fifth bucket of the half came in the final five seconds to make the score 41-40 at the break.
YSU then scored the first eight points of the second half, six of which came from Sulskis, to take a 48-41 lead. Detroit scored the next eight points to reclaim a one-point advantage with 14:44 left. That was the first of five lead changes over the next 1:40, and neither team led by more than a point until Donavan Foster hit a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Titans up 56-52 with 12:50 remaining.
An Allen triple gave YSU a 58-57 lead with 11:27 left, but Detroit scored the next seven points to go up 64-58 as YSU went scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes. The Penguins missed the front end of three one-and-one situations at the free-throw line during the drought.
YSU scored the next five points to get within 64-63 on Damian Eargle's bucket with 5:50 remaining, but the Penguins went without a field goal for the next five-and-a-half minutes until Perry's triple with 19 ticks left.
Youngstown State will be back in action on Thursday at Loyola. Tipoff at the Gentile Center is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.
