Penguins Seek Fourth Straight League Win; Host Milwaukee Saturday

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Feb. 13, 2009

Penguins Seek Fourth Straight League Win; Host Milwaukee Saturday

For the second straight game, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team (9-15, 6-8 Horizon League) will host one of the Horizon League’s top three teams when third-place Milwaukee visits the Beeghly Center, Saturday, Feb. 14.

    Tipoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. and the game will also be broadcast live on NewsRadio 570 WKBN AM and tape-delayed on MyYTV.
    The Guins are fresh off a hard-fought 77-73 upset over second-place Green Bay on Thursday evening. Junior DeAndre Mays led the Penguins with a game-high 21 points while junior Kelvin Bright and sophomore Vytas Sulskis each scored 12 points coming off the bench.
    The Penguins built a 22-point second-half lead and held off a heated Phoenix rally for the victory. Junior Zack Rebillot nailed two free throws with two seconds left to seal the win.
    Bright leads the team with 12.8 points per game while junior DeAndre Mays owns a scoring average of 11.1 points per game. Junior Sirlester Martin, who averages 9.1 points per game, leads the team and ranks second in the Horizon League with 7.3 rebounds per game.
    Milwaukee enters the game with an overall record of 14-10 and are 9-5 in the Horizon League. The Panthers have lost their last two contests, including a 70-61 defeat at Cleveland State on Thursday evening. The Panthers have also lost their last four road games. Junior Tone Boyle leads three Panthers scoring in double figures with 14.9 points per game.
    This is the 25th meeting between Youngstown State and Milwaukee in the all-time series that dates back to 1974. The Panthers own a 20-4 advantage in the all-time series and have won the last three contests, including a 69-50 win on Jan. 15.

The last time YSU defeated Milwaukee was an 81-63 victory on Jan. 13, 2007, at the Beeghly Center.
The Penguins visit Cleveland State, Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

A Win Will
• Improve YSU to 10-15 overall and 7-8 in the Horizon League.
• Mark YSU’s fifth win over Milwaukee.
• Mark YSU’s fourth consecutive Horizon League win.
• Mark YSU’s sixth home win of the season and the fourth home league win.
• Be the first time YSU has won four straight games since the start of the 2000-01 season.
• Be the first time YSU has won four straight league games since 1999 when it won five consecutive as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference.
• Mark Head Coach Jerry Slocum’s 620th career victory and his 40th at Youngstown State.
• YSU’s 974th 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 619 career wins, is one of seven active Division I head coaches with more than 600 career victories and ranks tied for sixth among that group.

Raining Three’s
Against UIC on Feb. 7, the Penguins set a season high with 12 3-pointers made. The last time YSU made 10 3-pointers in a game was against Valparaiso on Dec. 4, 2008. It is also the most 3-pointers made in a single game since the Guins made 13 against Detroit on Feb. 14, 2007. Over the last two games, the Guins are shooting 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from behind the 3-point arc.

Scouting Milwaukee
Milwaukee enters the game with an overall record of 14-10 and are 9-5 in the Horizon League. The Panthers have lost their last two contests, including a 70-61 defeat at Cleveland State on Thursday evening. The Panthers have also lost their last four road games. Junior Tone Boyle leads three Panthers scoring in double figures with 14.9 points per game. Senior Avery Smith and junior James Eayrs are also averaging in double figures with 12 and 10.3 points per game, respectively.

Last Time Out
The Guins are fresh off a hard-fought 77-73 upset over second-place Green Bay on Thursday evening. Junior DeAndre Mays led the Penguins with a game-high 21 points while junior Kelvin Bright and sophomore Vytas Sulskis each scored 12 points coming off the bench.
The Penguins built a 22-point second-half lead and held off a heated Phoenix rally for the victory. Junior Zack Rebillot nailed two free throws with two seconds left to seal the win.

Up Next... Cleveland State
The Penguins visit Cleveland State, Thursday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The contest will be broadcast on NewsRadio 570 AM WKBN.

The Milwaukee Series
This is the 25th meeting between Youngstown State and Milwaukee in the all-time series that dates back to 1974. The Panthers own a 20-4 advantage in the all-time series and have won the last three contests, including a 69-50 win on Jan. 15. The last time YSU defeated Milwaukee was an 81-63 victory on Jan. 13, 2007, at the Beeghly Center.

Last Time Against Milwaukee
Junior Sirlester Martin recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds but Youngstown State shot just 27.4 percent from the field en route to a 69-50 loss to Milwaukee on Jan. 15 at U.S. Cellular Arena.
Junior DeAndre Mays also scored in double figures with 11 points. Mays also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.

Bright, Sulskis Relish Bench Role
Over the last three games, junior Kelvin Bright and sophomore Vytas Sulskis have enjoyed coming off the bench. The duo has combined for 24 point and 6.6 rebounds per game during that stretch. Bright is averaging 12.3 points per game and is shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Sulskis owns an 11.7 points per game scoring average and is connecting on 46.4 percent of his field goal attempts.

Cooksey is Charitable
Over the course of his 52-game career, Vance Cooksey has been the Penguins best free-throw shooter. He leads the team with a .761 free-throw percentage this season. Last year, Cooksey owned an impressive free-throw percentage of .797. His current career free-throw percentage is .783 and ranks ninth all-time.

Sulskis Returns to Double Figures
After not scoring in double figures in nine straight games, sophomore Vytas Sulskis has been on on a roll. Over the last four games, Sulskis has scored in double figures in each game and is averaging 12.5 point per contest. He is also shooting at a 51.4 percent clip from the field. Sulskis scored 12 points against Green Bay (Feb. 12), 13 points against UIC on Feb. 7, 10 points against Loyola on Feb. 5 and led the Penguins with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor against Detroit on Jan. 31. He has scored in double figures in 10 games this season and 22 times in his career.

Saturday In the Parks
Over the last two weeks, sophomore Tom Parks has been a menace to his opponents. During that time, Parks is averaging 9.8 points per game and is shooting 57.1 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 58.3 percent (14-of-23) from behind the arc in the last four 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 20 3-pointers made this season, 14 have come in the last five 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 Guins won for the first time at the UIC Pavilion on Feb. 7.
• With the win over Green Bay on Feb. 12, YSU has won three straight games in the month of February for the first time since 2007 when the Guins defeated Detroit, 82-70 (Feb. 14), Eastern Kentucky, 66-61 (Feb. 17) and Wright State, 72-57 (Feb. 22).
• The first time YSU will have won three straight conference games in the month of February since 1995.

Mays Hits For Career High
Junior DeAndre Mays scored a career-high 22 points in the Penguins’ 78-61 loss to Green Bay on Jan. 17. The Dallas, Texas, native connected on 7-of-21 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Liles Still Streakin’; Now Eighth on Games Played Chart
Youngstown State senior Jack Liles has played in 106 consecutive games, dating back to the 2005-06 season. Liles, who has played in 112 career games, needs 196 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 109 career blocked shots. He also has 538 career rebounds. Liles also moved into a tie for sixth-place on the career games played list with 112