Scoring Droughts Sink YSU, UIC

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 18)
South Florida 72, Youngstown State 54
Western Illinois 70, UIC 54

Ten-minute scoring droughts doomed both Youngstown State and UIC on Tuesday night, as both teams fell in road defeats.

South Florida 72, Youngstown State 54
Youngstown State trailed by just two points with 9:53 to play, but scored just three points the rest of the way in a 72-54 loss at South Florida.

Youngstown State (6-5) was tied at the half with South Florida, 33-33, before coming out of the locker room strong to start the second half and opening a 45-39 lead. Shawn Amiker and Damian Eargle each had two layups, the latter coming on an offensive board, giving the Penguins their largest lead of the game.

South Florida would respond to take a 52-49 lead at the halfway point of the second, but two quick fouls on Kendrick Perry would swing the game. With 9:05 to play, Perry collected his fourth foul, regulating him to the bench and YSU down, 53-51.

Youngstown State’s offense stagnated, and by the time Perry fouled out on a loose ball with 5:49 remaining, the Penguins found themselves down 10, 62-52.

The Penguins did not hit a field goal over the final 9:46 of the game as South Florida steadily pulled away.

Perry led YSU with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting, going 4-for-8 from three-point range. Fellow Floridian Bobby Hain added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Western Illinois 70, UIC 54
A five-minute span of scoreless basketball in the second half sent UIC to a 70-54 loss at Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill.

UIC (9-2) saw its eight-game winning streak snapped as Western Illinois became the first team to shoot better than 50 percent against the Flames this season, connecting on 52.4 percent of its attempts.

The Flames shot just 36.2 percent (17-for-47) on the night, but started well enough, racing out to a 10-1 lead and holding a 26-19 advantage with just over three minutes to go in the first half. However, Western Illinois scored the last four points of the half, including two free throws with one second to go to take momentum into the locker room.

Western Illinois took its first lead of the game 1:53 into the second half, and UIC could not recover, in large part due to its subsequent scoring drought. After Ahman Fells cut the Flames’ deficit to 36-34 with 15:25 left, UIC would not score for over six minutes, by which time it trailed, 48-34.

After hanging its hat on defense throughout the season, UIC could not get enough stops down the stretch, as the Flames could come no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Joey Miller sparked UIC throughout the game, coming off the bench to score 15 points, his season-best effort with the Flames. Josh Crittle added 14, using an 8-of-10 effort at the free-throw line.