Nov. 26, 2008 | Box Score

Men's Basketball Comeback Falls Short Against Saint Francis (Pa.), 66-65

    Youngstown -- A valiant effort by the Youngstown State men's basketball team in the final minutes was not enough as the Penguins fell just a point short of Saint Francis, 66-65 Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.

    Trailing by five with 53 seconds left in the game, sophomore Vytas Sulskis, who scored a game-high 22 points, hit a clutch three with 37 seconds to pull the Penguins within two, 64-62.

    After fouling and two made free throws by Cale Nelson put the Red Flash up by four, Sulskis came back down the floor hitting another triple putting the Penguins within one, 66-65 with 25.9 seconds in the game.

    Saint Francis' Devin Sweetney missed a free throw that was rebounded by Sirlester Martin with 20 seconds left which gave the Penguins another opportunity to get the victory.

    Martin, who scored 11 points with nine rebounds, fired up a three ball with 11 seconds left, but was rebounded by Kelvin Bright. Bright then went up with a shot that was off the mark only to have it rebounded by DeAndre Mays who fired up the final shot with one second that was no good and went out of bounds, giving the Red Flash the win.

    The Penguins quickly erased nine-point Red Flash lead at the half pulling within four, 42-38 at the 15:36 mark of the second half, but could never recapture the lead after falling behind 16-14 with 11:33 left in the first half.

    Grant Surprenant hit a three-pointer to extent the Red Flash lead back to eight, but the Penguins scored 15 of the next 24 points to cut the deficit 57-55 with 5:08 remaining after a Dan Bouder jumper.

    A layup by Saint Francis' Marquis Ford put the Red Flash up by six, 62-56 but De'Andre Mays answered with his first three-pointer of the year to bring the Guins within three, 62-59, with 2:21 to go in the game.

   Trailing 11-7 with 13:15 left in the first half, Saint Francis went on a 17-6 run to take a lead of 24-17 with 6:21 left in the first half.

    The Red Flash led by as many as 14, 38-24, after a Mislav Jukic jumper with 1:45 left.

    Freshman Ashen Ward hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining before halftime to bring the Penguins within nine, 40-31.

    In the first half Saint Francis went 5-7 from behind the arch and had 18 points in the paint, shooting 61.5 percent from the floor. The Penguins shot 40.7 percent from the field in the first half
    The Penguins open Horizon League play this Thursday night when they play host to Valparaiso. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 7:05 p.m.