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YOUNGSTOWN
SUCCESS is measured in different ways. Wins and losses in a sure-fire way. Defense is another. Offense is one as well.
Youngstown State men's basketball team is one of the Horizon League's more athletic squads with the ability to run in transition on a consistent basis.
Consistent scorers? Not so much.
Coach Jerry Slocum said his team has a small margin for error in its Horizon League games.
Aside from the top tier of Valparaiso and Oakland, there is plenty of parity from the third to the 10th-seeded teams.
When it comes to the postseason, there are no double byes for the top two seeds. The top six seeds must win three games to advance to the NCAA Tournament, while seeds seven through 10 are forced to play four games at the early March Horizon League Tournament in Detroit.
If YSU (7-8, 1-1 Horizon League) wants to be one of the top six teams in this league, it better start shooting much better from the free-throw line.
Saturday, the Penguins shot an abysmal 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from the foul line. Thursday, it was 54.5 percent (12-of-22).
Not a great way to start league play.
If the Penguins shoot better from the stripe Thursday, they win in regulation instead of going to double overtime.
Saturday, YSU wasn't so lucky in its 90-77 setback to the Phoenix, the defending Horizon League Tournament champions.
Thursday, YSU junior shooting guard Cameron Morse saved the Penguins from going to 0-2 to start the league and lose two crucial home games. His last-second 3-pointer in regulation forced overtime. The Penguins eventually won in double overtime with good defense and rebounding. They need more than Morse's offensive output.
YSU has two months until the tournament. The Penguins need a balanced attack.
Francisco Santiago, Matt Donlan and Cameron Morse all average in double figures.
Morse had 57 points, including 33 on Thursday. The Penguins needed every bit of his 30-plus point performance to beat a 4-11 Milwaukee team.
Santiago had 32 in the first two Horizon games, including 18 against Green Bay. He even had 10 rebounds against Milwaukee.
Now, Donlan has had five and three points combined in both games. Shooters go through slumps. It's part of the game. That means his teammates need to help.
YSU must expand its offensive prowess and needs consistent double-figure scorers for this team to be a contender in this league.
Brett Frantz (Milwaukee) and Devin Haygood (Green Bay) scored 10 or more in their two league games off the bench.
The Penguins, in their two seasons of note since 2000, had four double-figure scores at season's end. Saying YSU had two notable seasons in a decade-and-a-half tells you all you need to know about the state of this program - a program that has been a game away from the NCAA Tournament twice since the mid-1980s. Depressing to say the least.
In the 2000-01 season, the Penguins went 19-11. That's the most wins a YSU team has had since going 20-9 in the 1997-98 season under the late Dan Peters. In that 1997-98 season, the Penguins lost to a Bryce Drew-led Valparaiso team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in the Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) title game.
In the 2000-01 season, YSU lost a first-round game to Oral Roberts in the Mid-Con, ending what should've been a team contending for an NCAA Tournament berth. Craig Haese, Ryan Patton, Desmond Harrison and Rafael Cruz all were double-figure scorers that year.
A couple of seasons ago (2012-13), the Penguins advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament - going 18-16.
That team was led by one of the best YSU players in team history in Kendrick Perry. Blake Allen and Kamren Belin scored in double figures as well. Warren G. Harding graduate and the best defender in Horizon League history, Damian Eargle, was a dual-threat player as well.
The 2000-01 and 2012-13 teams had great talent, but had a free-throw percentage in the high 60s - something this year's team has right now. However, it will quickly dip if YSU keeps up it abysmal free-throw shooting.
In addition, if YSU can find four consistent double-figure scorers, its margin of error won't be as small as it is now.
In a Horizon League where things are up for grabs, YSU needs every edge it can get.