Basketball Drops 85-69 Decision to Green Bay

by YSU

Sunday, Jan 5, 2014 3:53 pm

Green Bay, Wis. – Four players scored in double figures but the Youngstown State men's basketball team dropped an 85-69 decision to Green Bay on Saturday afternoon at the Resch Center.

With the loss, the Penguins fall to 9-8 overall and 0-2 in the Horizon League.  The Phoenix won their sixth straight game to improve to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in the league.

Sophomore Bobby Hain led the Penguins with 18 points and seven rebounds and senior Kendrick Perry posted 14 points. Senior Kamren Belin and sophomore Ryan Weber added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Green Bay junior Keifer Sykes just missed a triple double with 24 points, eight rebounds and nine assists and senior Alec Brown scored 20 points with three blocks. Greg Mays scored 16 points while sophomore Jordan Fouse added 10.

Green Bay, which overcame a 10-point first half deficit, shot a blistering 66.7 percent (22-of-33) from the field in the second half while the Penguins shot just 38.1 percent from the floor.

After falling behind by eight 46-38 just more than a minute into the second half, Hain split a pair of free throws, Perry converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Weber buried a 3-pointer to get the Penguins within one, 46-45, with 16:57 left.

Over the next five minutes, the Phoenix went on a 17-3 run to expand its lead to 15 points, 63-48.

The Penguins played an inspired first 17 minutes of the game and jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead with 16:01 left after a pair of free throws from Hain, a jumper from Belin and a layup by Weber.

Green Bay's Kenneth Lowe's three-point play got the Phoenix within two, 13-11, before the Penguins used a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 10, 23-13, with 12 minutes left.

Belin and Weber each nailed 3's and Hain added two jumpers to key the Penguins run.

Even when the Phoenix chipped the lead down to two, 25-23, at the 8:07 mark, the Penguins rebuilt their lead back to nine, 34-25, after a 3-pointer by DJ Cole, two free throws and a layup by Perry,  and a layup by Marcus Keene with 4:43 left.

The Phoenix, though, closed out the half on a 15-4 run to take a 40-38 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.  The Penguins were called for six fouls in the final four-and-a-half minutes that led to six made free throws and an old-fashioned three-point play by Sykes.

The Penguins also missed seven of their final nine field-goal attempts to close out the first half.

The Penguins close out its three-game road trip to open Horizon League play when they visit UIC, Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 8 p.m. EDT.

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