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Hungry for a victory

Penguins hold off Cleveland State down the stretch

Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Cleveland State’s Jibri Blount (5) guards YSU’s Braun Hartfield (1) during the Penguins’ 67-64 win Saturday in Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State saw the fruits of its second-half labor start to dwindle before its eyes.

Then, in an instant, YSU (10-13, 4-6 Horizon League) shifted momentum.

The Penguins men’s basketball team eventually held off rival Cleveland State, 67-64, Saturday at the Beeghly Center.

With the Penguins ahead, 63-62, CSU’s Kasheem Thomas picked off an errant pass and drove to the other end, where a hustling Francisco Santiago surged ahead and swatted Thomas’ lay-up attempt to Cameron Morse. Morse dribbled up the court and found Brett Frantz open beyond the arc. There, Frantz quickly canned a 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining — making up for an earlier turnover.

“It started out that he got pressured and I came to relieve him,” said Frantz, who had 17 points. “I was going to hand it off to him and it got bobbled. They stole it.

Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Youngstown State’s Braun Hartfield, left, and Devin Haygood (2) defend against Cleveland State’s Kasheem Thomas (12) during the Penguins’ 67-64 win over the Vikings on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.

“Cisco (Santiago) is one of the hardest working guys on the team. He ran, chased it down, blocked it, got it to us. I saw a little space, raised my hand to Cam. I shot it, knowing I missed a couple of 3s before that, just hoping it went in and it did.”

Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said that play was a game-changer.

“I think that turned the entire game to that point,” he said. “We had the momentum going into that play. We get the steal. It was a good block. No need to complain there. Our guy kind of gambled. They threw it over the top and hit a 3.

“I thought it was the biggest play of the game.”

YSU coach Jerry Slocum said he’s never heard such a roar from the Beeghly Center crowd since the Penguins upset former Horizon League member and two-time national runner-up Butler in 2011.

“I’m not sure if I’ve heard our crowd ever louder than when Frantz made that 3,” said Slocum, whose team played in front of 4,821 fans. “That was a great environment tonight. Those two plays were defining moments of that game, that 3 and his block.”

The Vikings (6-16, 2-8) were far from done.

Deomonte Flannigan, who led the Vikings with 16 points, hit a hook shot inside the charity stripe with 1:16 left.

Bobby Word blocked Morse’s 3-point attempt with 39 seconds left, forcing a shot-clock violation. Flannigan missed a jumper with 10.6 seconds left and Santiago came up with the rebound and was fouled. The YSU guard made 1-of-2 from the line to put YSU up three, giving the Vikings a last-ditch effort to force overtime.

“It was there for us,” Waters said of the Flannigan miss. “We just missed the opportunity.”

Word’s 3-point attempt from 22 feet out was off the mark with four seconds remaining, following back-to-back Cleveland State timeouts, effectively ending the game.

The Penguins, who amassed a 15-point lead on a Matt Donlan 3-pointer with 12:31 remaining, saw poor free-throw shooting and eight second-half turnovers start to take its toll on a YSU team desperate for a victory after coming in losing three straight.

An equally hungry Cleveland State team started to chip away and cut the lead to one on Deomonte Flannigan’s two free throws with 4:30 remaining. Morse, who had a game-high 23 points, countered with a quick lay-up as the two teams went into a timeout with the Penguins holding a three-point edge.

Waters said his team made some adjustments to counter the Penguins’ 11-0 run to start the second half.

“We couldn’t do anything against the zone,” Waters said. “In the first half, we had the lead. Then they went to the zone and went on a 13-0 run on us. We, for I’m going to say five minutes, couldn’t score a bucket. We still haven’t solved it. We were getting some shots, but they weren’t great shots. Then we finally got the understanding of how to get the shot and get it inside. I thought it let us back in the game.”

YSU is in the midst of a three-game homestand with Oakland coming Thursday and Detroit on Saturday.

A SON’S WISDOM: Slocum said his son, Aaron, had a simple observation following the game.

“It didn’t have to be that close, you know,” Jerry said.

“We had them in a good position. Give them credit. They fought hard. They did some good things defensively. We made some mistakes. Got sped up for a couple of turnovers.”

DEFENSIVE STAND: Youngstown State shot 50 percent for the game (26-of-52), but had arguably its best defensive game as well — holding Cleveland State to 25-of-64 (39.1 percent).

They held all-league player Rob Edwards to seven points.

“Scores don’t indicate it, but if you watch the Green Bay game, I thought one of our better defensive efforts of the year was against them,” Slocum said. “But yes, this was a great effort tonight defensively.”

HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS: YSU is in eighth place, a half-game out of seventh, a game out of sixth and a game-and-a-half from three three-way tie for third.

Valparaiso leads (17-4, 7-1), while Green Bay is second (13-8, 7-2). Oakland (15-7, 5-4), Northern Kentucky (14-8, 5-4) and Wright State (14-8, 5-4) are tied for third. UIC (11-10, 4-4) is sixth, while Milwaukee (8-14, 4-5) is seventh. Detroit Mercy (4-17, 2-7) and Cleveland State are the final two teams in the standings.

NEW UNIFORMS?: Youngstown State wore its white uniforms with pink outlining for the second time this season. The first time the Penguins wore them was for the Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer doubleheader where YSU upset Mid-American Conference leader Akron to begin the season.

Saturday was a Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers event where coaches wore sneakers to promote cancer awareness as part of an initiative with the National Basketball Coaches Association and the American Cancer Society.

Should YSU bring the uniforms out again since it is 2-0?

“You might see them next week,” Slocum said. “I don’t know.”

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