Basketball Drops 71-68 Decision at Austin Peay in BracketBuster Game

[IAA Fan]

Clarksville, Tenn. -- Sophomore Kendrick Perry scored 20 points and junior Damian Eargle posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds but the Youngstown State men's basketball team dropped a 71-68 decision to Austin Peay in the 2012 Sears BracketBusters game on Saturday evening at the Dunn Center.

Senior DuShawn Brooks scored 13 points and junior Blake Allen added 10 points with five assists for the Guins, who fall to 14-13 after the loss.

Austin Peay improves to 10-19 overall and was led by TyShwan Edmundson's game-high 23 points while coming off the bench.

The Guins made more field goals (24-22) and more 3-pointers (13-6) and shot 44.8 percent from 3-point range, but the Governors connected on 21-of-27 from the free throw line while the Guins were just 7-of-10.

The Governors, who shot just 33 percent from the field for the game, dominated the boards, outrebounding the Guins, 51-32, with 27 coming on the offensive glass and scored 29 second-chance points.

In the second half, the Governors outscored the Guins, 43-35, thanks in part to 14 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points.In contrast, the Guins had 10 total rebounds after halftime.

The Governors led by six, 66-60, with 1:07 to go when the Guins made a late charge and cut the deficit to one, 66-65, after a 3-pointer by Allen and a layup by Perry with 19 seconds left.

APSU's Jerome Clyburn made just the first of two free throws to put the Governors up two, 67-65, but he knocked the ball away Kendrick Perry as he was driving the to the basket. Perry fouled Edmundson and he made two more charity tosses to go up four, 69-65.

Perry hit another 3-pointer with five seconds left to get within one, 69-68, but Josh Terry made two free throws for the game's final score.

Leading by one, 41-40, made three 3-pointers in less than two minutes to build an eight-point lead, 50-42, with 12:52 to go.

Austin Peay then used a 15-2 run over the next five minutes sparked by eight points from Edmundson to take a 57-52 lead with 7:40 remaining.

During that run, the Governors took their first lead of the game on a jumper by Edmundson at the 10:03 mark.

The Guins scored the first nine points of the game and twice led by as many as 10 points in the first eight minutes of the game.

An Eargle layup at 14:42 to the Guins up, 13-3, and a 3-pointer by Ward gave the Guins an 18-8 advantage with 11:47 to go.

APSU tied the game at 24-24 with 6:53 to go but the Guins used a 9-4 to close out the half with a 33-28 lead.

The Guins return to Horizon League action when they host Wright State, Thursday, Feb. 23. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

[IAA Fan]

Very quiet. So I will say it. This is worst team we faced all year, yet some how we found a way to lose. We lost this game back at the very beginning. We scored 9-points before they could even hit the rim. Then we back-off and went three-point happy, which resulted in the score going from 9-0 ...to 13-12 in the next few minutes. APSU never should have been in this game. Unacceptable.

[ItalianPenguin]

Austin Peay was a 2 1/2 point favorite going in to the game. So the result is not surprising at all to the people who are paid big money to set the numbers. APSU was worse than Fredonia St??

[ysufan0505]

Slocum needs to go. Horrible, another loss to a bad team. When does football season start?

[goodnews]

27 offensive rebounds by Austin Peay is why YSU lost.   They out rebounded YSU 51-32...... There is a glaring weakness on this team that includes size, toughness and the ability to put a body on someone as the other team releases the shot.  Sorry but that is 7th grade basketball..... You don't get 27 bad bounces in 1 game... Please note that Austin Peay did beat Tennessee in Knoxville....

[ysuindy]

No doubt a disappointing loss.  But APSU is far from the "worst team" on YSU's schedule, especially at home.  They have lost 3 games at home:  Middle Tennessee (already clinched Sun Belt), Murray State (already clinched OVC) and Belmont (leading the Atlantic Sun).  APSU lost by one in overtime to Detroit on a neutral floor one week before YSU beat Detroit.  As noted above they won at Tennessee - no matter how bad a SEC team is, a win over one on the road is a good win.

Overall a good day for the Horizon League, 7-3 in Bracket Busters in a "down" year. 

Again, a disappointing loss - but the "Fire Slocum" crowd after every loss is getting old. 

[IAA Fan]

I am not in favor of "firing Slocum" at all. In fact, I wish they would announce now for recruiting, and will be very upset if he goes. However, I do not feel this team (APSU) should have been competitive with us. Not the team I saw yesterday. That was a bad UDM team they lost to ...not a bad team now that they return their two best players. I just want some consistency on the court. The rebounding issue also comes from 3-point shots. High powered shots do not leave too many second-chances.

As to rebounds, tell me if I am wrong, it seems as though we position ourselves on the perimeter defensively. I am thinking it has to with being used to offensive positioning because of the three.

[YSUGO]

We have match up problems with teams that have decent bigs...needs to be addressed..Slocum gets 1 more year.  I hope we can get  a home turney game.  But I think we have ran out of gas!

[OleYSUfan]

I know many on this board are in favor of keeping Slocum, but I for one don't see why.

This is his seventh season and the following are his YSU records:

05/06    7 - 21
06/07  14 - 17
07/08    9 - 21
08/09  11 - 19
09/10    8 - 22
10/11    9 - 21
11/12  14 - 13

Total: 72 wins - 134 loss:
If you remove the 12 div.11 and div. 111 games; the likes of Slippery Rock, Lock Haven, Allegheny, Hiram, Geneva, Malone, Fredonia State and the likes - the record is:

        60 wins - 134 loss

No other coach in the horizon league would have gotten a chance on a 7th season!!

Slocum may be a very nice person and have a splendid personality, but he is ineffective as a division basketball coach. He does't promote driving to the basket to get possible fouls and usually the YSU team  gets 10- 15 foul shots per game when the oppenent may get 20- 25 foul shots per game.

He tends to have his players work hard on the perimeter to get off a 3 point shot, which may be good if you're making 45% or greater.

Yes, he has won a few big games, like Butler, Cleveland State and Milwaukee, but how about the close ones he was supposed to win.

I am curious why do many of you think Slocum deserves another year?

[IAA Fan]

I think he a good game manager. He is prepared to play the teams faces ...positioning etc. He takes the talent that he has and makes the most of it. Yes, this should not be a consideration, but he $imply a great coaching value.

[ysufan0505]

I just think they need a fresh start. Starting from the top

[ysuindy]

This is the least attractive job in the Horizon League and one of the least attractive among the "better" mid-major leagues. 

The budget is inferior to most of their peers, basketball is going to play second fiddle to football.

The team has increased their league record by at least 7 games (fourth most in NCAA Division I from a note I saw the other day).  You might have your first winning season in a decade  and your first winning league season since joining the Horizon League.

So yeah, lets fire the coach  after he puts together the best season the school has seen in about 10 years.

I  am sure you will get a long list of qualified coaches who  will want a crappy job under those circumstances.

I  wouldn't have objected to a coaching change before this season or  two seasons ago.  But to make a change  now would be asinine.

[ItalianPenguin]

Thanks Indy for bringing some sanity back to these threads. Again, if you didn't change coaches after a 9-21 or whatever season, why now? And, as Indy says, who's coming here??

[YsuPride]

If you had an employee who was not getting results at your job would they keep him/her?  Probably not.
So then why is it different at YSU?  Slocum has not gotten the results nor the fans in our valley excited about basketball.  A coaches responsibility is to win games and recruit kids that can give the team a chance of winning and he has done none of this period.   

For those who think his game prep is good then why did we get blown out at home in front of the home fans against CSU and Butler?   I am tired of hearing we are dealt a low budget and such.  Give me a break on that excuse by all of you.  That is getting old.  Do you think Robert Morris has a better budget than us? No but they just won 20 games and have post playesr that can play. 

We need a new direction for the program now.

[YsuPride]

Maybe if Slocum is not fired he still resigns and goes back to Gannon Tech where 6-5" players may help you out.