Correspondent picture / Robert Hayes
YSU’s Cris Carroll (left) drives to the basket with Detroit Mercy’s Lance Stone on protection. Carroll paced the Penguins with 15 factors in a 73-68 loss to the Titans.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State males’s basketball staff regarded like a bunch that hadn’t performed in over every week.
After a vacation layoff, the Penguins returned to Beeghly Center on Monday. But not so much went nicely for them as they fell to the Titans 73-68.
The Penguins (8-6, 2-2 Horizon League) hadn’t performed since topping USC-Upstate on Dec. 20.
“I thought our execution was poor in the first half,” YSU head coach Ethan Faulkner stated. “I grade our offense not necessarily on makes and misses, but are we making the right basketball play, are we shooting the right shots, are we executing our actions the way that they are supposed to be executed in terms of timing, in terms of pace, in terms of screen quality, pass quality? All those things were not very good in the first half.”
There was a lid on the basket for each groups to begin the sport. They mixed to go 6 for twenty-four, with the Penguins taking pictures 3 for 14 by the 11:16 mark of the primary half.
The taking pictures woes continued all through the primary for the Penguins. They entered the locker room trailing 32-25, their lowest first-half level complete up to now this season.
YSU lastly received some pictures to fall lower than 5 minutes into the second half. The Penguins went on a 13-0 run to reduce the deficit to 51-42, however the Titans responded to balloon their lead again up to 16 with 6:38 to play.
The Penguins fought their manner again to inside putting distance once more in the closing moments as Rontavious Blackshear sank a 3 with 36 seconds to play, however Detroit Mercy’s Orlando Lovejoy transformed a pair of free throws to push the sport out of attain.
“All respect to (the Titans), but this is not the type of Youngstown basketball that we’ve been playing the past 13, 14 games,” YSU’s Bryson Dawkins stated.
“The second half, going back in, everybody just got back on the same page. A lot of people missed open shots – I think that was frustrating for everybody else too – but just getting back on the same page, just being connected. That’s mainly what it comes down to, just staying connected.”
The Penguins ended the evening with a 22-for-67 taking pictures effort (32.8%), together with 10-of-38 taking pictures from past the 3-point line.
Dawkins led the Penguins with 14 factors and 4 rebounds. Jason Nelson and Blackshear every scored 12 factors, with Nelson additionally flattening three boards, and Vladimer Salaridze tallied three factors with a team-high eight rebounds.
Lovejoy led all scorers with 22 factors, and Keshawn Fisher added 15 factors and 7 rebounds for the Titans (6-7, 3-1).
“Much of this game was really just a lack of execution in terms of what we were trying to do, and that’s on me to get fixed,” Faulkner stated.
YSU will look to get again on observe on New Year’s Day when Oakland comes to city.
The Golden Grizzlies have misplaced three of their final 4, together with an 88-73 defeat by the hands of Wright State on Monday.