Six Reach Double Figures as Youngstown State Improves to 5-1

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 20)
Youngstown State 82, Thiel 58
Northwestern 93, UIC 58
Evansville 100, Valparaiso 92

Youngstown State dominated Thiel to collect their fifth win of the season with six players including all five starters scoring double figures. The Penguins collected the lone win among Horizon League teams Wednesday night.

Youngstown State 82, Thiel 58

Youngstown State improves to 5-1 Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center in an 82-58 win over Thiel. All five starters scored double figures while Shawn Amiker had 12 points in just 13 minutes off the bench.

The team shot 49.2 percent from the field while Kamren Belin had 13, Ryan Weber and DJ Cole each had 11 and Kendrick Perry and Bobby Hain added 10.

The last time six Penguins score at least 10 points was against Loyola on Feb. 4, 2010.

The Penguins improve to 5-1 for the second time in the last three seasons. The last time YSU began a season 5-1 was in 2011-12.

The Guins shot an impressive 51.5 percent from the field in the first half en route to a 21-point halftime advantage, 49-21. In the second half, the strong shooting continued as YSU was 12-of-26 from the floor (46.2 percent). Thiel shot 36 percent in a losing effort and is now 1-2 on the season. For the game, YSU made 29-of-59 (49.2 percent).

After the Tomcats scored the game's first bucket, the Penguins scored the next 20 points to take a 20-2 advantage at the 13:24 mark.

Two free throws by Thiel's Eric Mallinger cut the deficit to 12, 20-8, but the Penguins used a 15-7 run over the next four minutes to take a 35-15 lead at the 7:34 mark. Cole scored five points during the run and capped it with a 3-pointer.

The Penguins pushed the lead to a first-half high 25, 47-22, after a 3-pointer by Marcus Keene, a dunk by Perry, another 3-pointer from Keene and a layup by Ryan Weber at the 4:55 mark.

Thiel closed out the half by scoring six of the final eight points.

In the second half, the Penguins led by as many as 35 points which was on three occasions - 75-40, 77-42 and for the last time at 79-44 with 5:09 remaining in the contest.

YSU dominated the boards outrebounding the Tomcats 43-29. The Guins also had 16 assists on their 29 field goals with Perry dishing out a game-high six. Cole chipped in five assists as well.

Northwestern 93, UIC 58

The UIC men’s basketball team (1-3) suffered a 93-58 defeat at home on Wednesday night against Big Ten-foe Northwestern (2-2) in front of a crowd of 5,630. Tonight’s attendance was the largest crowd for UIC since Jan. 19, 2012 when the Flames hosted Butler in front of 5,931 fans.

The Flames were led by senior transfer Jordan Harks who recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  The Wildcats were paced by junior Dave Sobolewski with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-8 from the outside.

Northwestern led 47-22 at half on the wings of hot shooting, going 7-of-12 from three-point range.  Sobolewski drilled all four of his threes in the first period and had 17 points before the break.  The Wildcats kept their torrid pace in the second half, hitting 15-of-23 from the floor, while UIC experienced iron unkind as they went 18-of-62 (29.0%), including 7-of-31 (22.6%) in the first half.

Harks was joined in double figures by senior transfer Kelsey Barlow with 10 points, his fourth-straight game with 10 or more points.  Freshman Markese McGuire set a career-high with 22 minutes of action, adding seven points to the Flames’ total.  Freshman Pat Birt notched his first points as a Flame with five all in the final period.

Coming into the contest, UIC had won the previous four meetings versus Northwestern, including last year’s 50-44 victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.  The all-time series is now tied at 4-4.

Evansville 100, Valparaiso 92

The Evansville men’s basketball team defeated Valparaiso by a final of 100-92 on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center. The Crusaders were led by the double-digit scoring efforts of freshman Alec Peters with 30, LaVonte Dority while 17 and Jordan Coleman added 12.

Peters ended the night 10-of-15 from the field, including a 7-of-11 effort from behind the 3-point line.  The seven 3-pointers were the most by a Crusader in a single game since Ryan Broekhoff connected on seven triples last season at Milwaukee.  The 30-point night ended a tumultuous 3-day span for Peters, who learned his hometown had been devastated by Sunday’s tornadoes shortly after the Crusaders’ loss at Ohio and proceeded to return home on Monday to assist in recovery efforts.

Trailing by 25 at the half, the Crusaders surrendered the first basket of the second half, and still faced a 27-point deficit at 65-38 with 16:53 to play following a 3-pointer by the Purple Aces.  Valpo proceeded to make its first push at getting back into the ballgame, putting together a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to cut the deficit to 13 points.  Coleman and Clay Yeo both scored five points during the spurt, the latter capping it with a triple and a fast-break layup.

Evansville would respond with the next nine points to push its lead back to 22 points at 76-54 with less than nine minutes to play, as Valpo went scoreless for a four-minute stretch.  But a layup from Jubril Adekoya snapped the skid and propelled the Crusaders on another run.  Peters connected on a pair of 3-pointers and also had an old-fashioned 3-point play, while a fast-break dunk from Coleman forced a timeout from the Aces as the 15-5 run brought Valpo within 81-69 with five minutes remaining.

Evansville’s D.J. Balentine hit a pair of free throws to briefly stop the Crusader momentum, but two trips later Peters connected on a 3-pointer.  Then, following a pair of misses from the charity stripe by the Aces, the rookie from Washington nailed another triple to make it an 83-75 game with 3:33 to go, the first time the Crusaders had been within single digits since 10 minutes into the game.

The Purple Aces scored the next five to push their lead back to 13 points, but Dority hit a 3-pointer of his own and then answered a pair of free throws with a driving layup with 1:41 to play.  Evansville split two free throws on its next trip, and again Peters stepped up, hitting his seventh 3-pointer to make it 91-83.

Dority then came up with a big defensive play, stealing the ball at halfcourt and getting fouled, converting two free throws with 1:13 to go, making it a six-point game.  But the Crusaders were unable to make it any closer than a six-point game down the stretch, despite twice closing back to within six on two more Dority free throws and a 3-pointer from Bobby Capobianco, as Evansville went 9-of-12 from the foul line over the final 73 seconds.

For the third consecutive game, Valpo faced a double-digit deficit early in the game, as back-to-back layups by Jaylon Moore gave Evansville a 16-6 lead just 5:36 after the opening tip.  Then, over the final 10 minutes of the half, the Purple Aces had separate runs of 15-4 and 16-4 as they went into the locker room with a 55-30 lead.

Two other Crusaders joined Peters in double figures on Wednesday, as Dority scored 17 points and Coleman added 12 points.  Valpo was very effective on the offensive end against the Purple Aces, connecting on 61.4% (35-of-57) from the field, including a 12-of-25 effort from 3-point range.  Adekoya picked up a team-high six assists despite playing just 14 second-half minutes, while Moussa Gueye picked up four of the Crusaders’ seven blocked shots.

For as effective as the Crusaders were offensively, Evansville (4-0) was even more so, hitting 61.1% (33-of-54) from the floor and 75% (9-of-12) from 3-point range.  The Purple Aces also took advantage of 34 trips to the foul line, hitting 25, as compared to 10-of-15 for Valpo.  Balentine led all players with 32 points to lead five Evansville players in double figures.  Duane Gibson finished the night with a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists as well.