Penguins Host Saint Peter’s in BracketBuster, Celebrate Senior Day

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Feb. 20, 2009

Penguins Host Saint Peter’s in BracketBuster, Celebrate Senior Day

    The Youngstown State men’s basketball team (10-16, 7-9 Horizon League) closes out the home portion of the schedule and celebrates Senior Day when the Guins host Saint Peter’s (N.J.) in the Seventh Annual ESPN BracketBuster, Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Beeghly Center.
    The Penguins are honoring seniors Jack Liles and Mikko Niemi, who are both playing in the final regular-season game at the Beeghly Center.
    Tipoff is slated for 4:35 p.m. and the game will also be broadcast live on NewsRadio 570 WKBN AM and tape-delayed on MyYTV.
    A valiant second-half effort came up just short as Youngstown State dropped a heartbreaker to in-state rival Cleveland State, 58-54, Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.
    Sophomore Vytas Sulskis led three players scoring in double figures with 14 points, 12 in the second half, while junior Sirlester Martin posted his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Jack Liles added 12 points.
    Junior Kelvin Bright leads the team with 12 points per game while Mays owns a scoring average of 11 points per game. Junior Sirlester Martin, who averages 9.6 points per game, leads the team and ranks second in the Horizon League with 7.5 rebounds per game.
    Saint Peter’s (N.J.) enters the game with a 9-17 overall record and has won its last three games. The Peacocks defeated Canisius, 59-58, on Feb. 2, Rider, 65-64, on Feb. 13 and Marist, 72-62, on Feb. 16. Leading the Peacock is Wesley Jenkins with a 15.3 points per game scoring average and Nick Leon, who averages 15.1 points per game.
    This is just the third meeting between Youngstown State and Saint Peter’s. Saint Peter’s won contests during the 1992-93 season. In the last meeting, Saint Peter’s defeated the Penguins, 78-67, on Jan. 5, 1993, at the Beeghly Center. In the first meeting on Dec. 23, 1992, Saint Peter’s was victorious, 81-68, Jersey City, N.J.

A Win Will
• Improve YSU to 11-16 overall.
• Mark YSU’s first win over Saint Peter’s (N.J.).
• Mark YSU’s seventh home win of the season.
• Mark Head Coach Jerry Slocum’s 621st career victory and his 41st at Youngstown State.
• YSU’s 975th victory in the program’s history.

Slocum In Select Company
Youngstown State Head Coach Jerry Slocum is in some pretty elite company. Slocum, who has 620 career wins, is one of eight active Division I head coaches with more than 600 career victories and ranks tied for sixth among that group.

Can Clinch Home Tournament Game
With a win in one of its last two Horizon League games or a loss by Loyola to UIC next Friday, Youngstown State will have earned the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League tournament and host a first round game on Tuesday, March 3. It would be the second time in three years the Penguins hosted a first round game. The last time was in 2007 when the Guins defeated Detroit, 82-80.

Liles Highlights
A four-year letterwinner, senior Jack Liles has been a mainstay in the Penguins line up over the course of his career.

    The only player to start every game this season, Liles has appeared in 108 consecutive games dating back to the 2005-06 season and ranks tied for second all-time with 114 career games played. Liles, a native of Odenton, Md., also ranks sixth all-time with 88 career starts.
    This season, he leads the Penguins and ranks third in the Horizon League with 1.3 blocked shots per game. He also ranks third in school history with 113 career blocks and his 33 blocked shots this season ranks tied for sixth on the single-season list.
    Liles, who has scored in double figures 41 times during his career, has scored 825 career points and has grabbed 545 career rebounds. His field-goal percentage of .492 ranks third in the Horizon League and his career field-goal percentage of .523 ranks fourth in school history. Liles scored a career-high 21 points against Butler on Jan. 19, 2008.
    This season, Liles has scored in double figures 11 times and scored a season-high 18 points in a 64-60 win over Cleveland State on Jan. 23.

Niemi’s Resume
    Senior Mikko Niemi is a four-year letterwinner that has been the consummate teammate during his career. Since 2005-06, Niemi has appeared in 102 games and has started 14 times.
As a junior, Niemi played in all 30 games and appeared in the starting lineup 10 times.
    Last season, Niemi dished out five assists in the Penguins’ 69-66 win over Weber State on Nov. 13, 2007, and set a career high with seven assists against Slippery Rock on Dec. 29, 2007.
He scored a career-high eight points against UIC on Feb. 2, 2008, including nailing two 3-pointers.
    As a sophomore, Niemi appeared in all 31 games and made two starts. He is one of only seven players to have played in a school single-season record of 31 games.
    Niemi also set a career high with 39 minutes played in YSU’s 76-71 win over Loyola on Dec. 30, 2006.
    This season, the native of Kangasala, Finland, has appeared in 17 games and has made one start.
    For his career, Niemi has 82 points with 106 rebounds, 106 assists and 22 steals.

Up Next... Butler
The Penguins close out the regular season with a pair of Horizon League road games. First the Penguins take on nationally-ranked Butler, Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 28, the Guins visit Valparaiso with an 8:05 p.m. tipoff.
Both games will be broadcast on NewsRadio 570 AM WKBN.

Martin Picks Up Fourth Double-Double
Just one game after posting a career-high 20 points against Milwaukee on Feb. 14, junior Sirlester Martin notched his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds against Cleveland State on Wednesday. Over the last two games, Martin is averaging 16 points and nine rebounds per game. In the last five contests, Martin is averaging 11.6 points and seven boards per contest.

Cooksey is Charitable
Over the course of his 54-game career, Vance Cooksey has been the Penguins’ best free-throw shooter. He leads the team with a .771 free-throw percentage (37-of-48) this season. Last year, Cooksey owned an impressive free-throw percentage of .797 (55-of-69). His current career free-throw percentage is .786 and ranks tied for eighth all-time.

Saturday In the Parks
Over the last seven games, sophomore Tom Parks has been a menace to his opponents. During that time, Parks is shooting 54.3 percent from the field. More impressive is his accuracy from behind the 3-point line. Parks, who tied a career high with 15 points against UIC on Feb. 7, is shooting 55.1 percent (16-of-29) from behind the arc in the last seven games. He made four treys against Wright State (Jan. 29), three against Detroit (Jan. 31), one against Loyola (Feb. 5) and a career-best five against UIC (Feb. 7). He went 5-for-5 against the Flames. Of his 22 3-pointers made this season, 16 have come in the last seven games.

February Firsts
• Defeated Loyola for the first road win in the month of February since a 75-69 win at UMKC on Feb. 17, 2001.
• The Penguins won for the first time at the UIC Pavilion on Feb. 7.
• With the win over Milwaukee on Feb. 14, YSU has won four straight games in the month of February for the first time since 1999.

Mays Has Monster Week
Junior DeAndre Mays turned in two outstanding performances last week in YSU’s wins over Green Bay and Milwaukee. Mays averaged 18 points, five rebounds and two assists per game. Against Green Bay, Mays lit up the Phoenix for a game-high 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. He also made 10-of-14 shots from the free-throw line. The Dallas, Texas, native poured in 15 points in the 70-68 win over Milwaukee.

Martin Hits For Career High
Junior Sirlester Martin posted a career-high 20 points to lead the Penguins past Milwaukee, 70-68, on Feb. 14. Martin connected on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Martin has scored in double figures 13 times this season and has led the Penguins in scoring three times. He has also led the Guins in rebounding 14 times.

Liles Still Streakin’; Now Second on Games Played Chart
Youngstown State senior Jack Liles has played in 108 consecutive games, dating back to the 2005-06 season. Liles, who has played in 114 career games, needs 175 points to become the first player in school history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career. Liles also ranks third all-time with 112 career blocked shots. He also has 543 career rebounds. Liles also moved into a tie for second-place on the career games played list with 114. He also ranks sixth all-time with 88 games started.