Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 15)
Green Bay 88, Illinois-Springfield 57
Kent State 69, Youngstown State 61
Green Bay 88, Illinois-Springfield 57
Opening the season with Military Appreciation Day and a celebration of the 2013-14 Horizon League championship, the Green Bay men’s basketball team used a 24-7 run to close the first half and rolled to an 88-57 victory over visiting Illinois-Springfield on Saturday afternoon at the Resch Center.
Leading the victory, reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting to become the tenth player in program history to reach 1,500 career points. The 6-foot guard added six assists without a turnover.
Green Bay scored the first eight points of the afternoon and led 17-5, but the Prairie Stars responded with a 13-1 run to tie the game at 18-18 midway through the half. The Phoenix closed the half with a flurry, including the final 13 points to lead 46-25. Junior Carrington Love (Milwaukee, Wis.) drained a pair of triples and Sykes added another during the run.
The Phoenix finished the opening half 18-of-34 from the field and shot 47.7 percent from the field (31-65). Aided by 12 blocks, tied for third most in program history, Green Bay’s defense held UIS to just 32.8 percent shooting (21-64). Sophomore newcomer Henry Uwadiae (Benin City, Nigeria) had five of the blocks, with each coming in six minutes in the first half.
Senior Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Phoenix and junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) added 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Phoenix bench scored 32 points, with freshman Daeshon Francis (Indianapolis, Ind.) shining in his collegiate debut with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Senior Alfonzo McKinnie (Chicago, Ill.) knocked down two three-pointers and added eight points.
Looking sharp in its opener, Green Bay tallied 19 assists to just 11 turnovers and knocked down 17-of-20 free throws, including 15 consecutive at one point.
Kent State 69, Youngstown State 61
Shawn Amiker scored 20 points and Bobby Hain added 17 as the Youngstown State men's basketball team opened the season with a 69-61 loss to Kent State on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.
YSU hung tough with the Golden Flashes throughout the contest and led 48-47 on an Amiker layup and free throw with 13:31 remaining. However, Kent State took a 50-48 lead on a three-point play by Khaliq Spencer and it never trailed again.
The Penguins (0-1) trailed by just a pair at the break, 35-33, despite Kent State connecting on 52.4 percent from the field. The Guins were 12-of-23 from inside the 3-point arc and held a four-rebound edge in the first half.
Neither team led by more than five points in the opening half with the Golden Flashes' biggest lead of the contest coming at the games outset (5-0) while the Guins took a 26-22 lead on two Umude free throws with 7:28 left in the opening half. The first half featured six ties as the Penguins outscored KSU 20-10 in the paint and 9-1 off turnovers. Kent State had seven turnovers in the opening half while YSU had just two.
Amiker scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, but Kent State outscored the Guins 34-28 in the stanza. In the first half, Hain had 11 points making four-of-six attempts from the floor to lead the offensive charge. Battling foul trouble in the second half he ended the game 7-of-9 from the field and had five rebounds.
With 6:13 remaining, DJ Cole connected on a 3-pointer to pull the Penguins to within 62-57. After a KSU miss, YSU had two possessions to cut into the lead before a free throw by Kris Brewer made it a six-point deficit. The Guins had three opportunities on their next trip down the court to slice the deficit but could not convert.
Kris Brewer scored to push the advantage up to 65-57 with 3:01 left and the Penguins were never able to get the deficit under eight for the remainder of the game.
YSU shot 37.1 percent for the contest making 23-of-62 shots while KSU made an efficient 23-of-44 attempts (52.3 percent). Each team had its ups and downs from the free-throw line as the Penguins made 13-of-26 while KSU connected on 16-of-30 shots. The Guins led in rebounding 37-36.
