Jan. 10, 2009 | Box Score

Men's Basketball: Penguins Rally Not Enough In 68-57 Loss to Loyola

    Youngstown -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team battled all night to get back in the game with Loyola, but once the Penguins did at 48-all in the second half, the Ramblers used a 13-4 run to regain control and come away with a 68-57 win at the Beeghly Center on Saturday night.

    The Penguins, who went 0-for-14 from 3-point range, fall to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in the Horizon League while the Ramblers improve to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in the league.

    Junior Kelvin Bright turned another explosive offensive performance with a game-high 22 points and senior Jack Liles posted his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
    Trailing  by nine, 45-36, midway through the second half, YSU used a 12-3 run to get back into the contest and  scored six straight points to tie the contest at 48 on a DeAndre Mays jumper from the top of the lane with 6:23 left.
    Loyola, who made 10 3-pointers, broke the tie on its next possession when Aric Van Weelden drained a 3-pointer at the 5:55 mark. From that point on, the Ramblers never trailed.
    After two Penguin free throws, Loyola scored four straight points capped by a Darrin Williams dunk with 4:00 left to go ahead 55-50.

    Mays hit a jumper with 3:08 to go to bring the Guins within 55-52 but would not get any  closer.

    Loyola grabbed a 28-22 halftime lead behind some solid defense. YSU shot 40.9 percent from the field making 9-of-22 attempts while missing all four 3-point tries. On the other hand, the Ramblers were 4-of-6 from behind the arc and 10-of-22 from the field overall (45.5 percent).
    The Penguins were 4-of-7 from the line while LU struggled making 4-of-10 attempts. YSU was outrebounded 19-14.
    Youngstown State's only lead of the first half came when Bright connected on the contest's first basket. After Darrin Williams tied the game at two, the Ramblers never trailed the rest of the first half.
    Loyola's biggest lead of the first half was 28-20 at the 1:48 mark before Ashen Ward's two free throws in the final minute determined the halftime margin.
    Bright scored 12 of the Guins' 22 points and made five of their nine field goals.

    The Penguins are back on the road next Thursday when they visit league-leader Milwaukee. Tipoff at the U.S. Cellular Arena is set for 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.