35 points from Morse not enough as Penguins fall
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Youngstown State’s Cameron Morse, with ball, tries to work for a shot against the entire Wright State defense Thursday night at Beeghly Center. The Raiders beat the Penguins, 84-81, despite 35 points from Morse.
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Youngstown State’s Francisco Santiago, right, dribbles up the floor against Wright State’s Grant Benzinger.
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Youngstown State’s Cameron Morse, with ball, tries to work for a shot against the entire Wright State defense Thursday night at Beeghly Center. The Raiders beat the Penguins, 84-81, despite 35 points from Morse.
Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Youngstown State’s Francisco Santiago, right, dribbles up the floor against Wright State’s Grant Benzinger.
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Cameron Morse.
He's one of the Horizon League's best players -- a sure bet for first-team, all-league player and in the running for player of the year.
Morse scored 35 points Thursday in Youngstown State's 84-81 loss to Wright State at the Beeghly Center.
He had 7-foot teammate Jorden Kaufman give more than a helping hand with 17 points and eight rebounds.
"Thought Cam played a great second half, and thought Kaufman played a great 40 minutes," YSU coach Jerry Slocum said.
Morse leads the Horizon in conference games with 23.7 points per outing and had 28 of his 35 in the second half.
The Penguins (10-18, 4-11 Horizon League), besides Kaufman, who came off the bench, had no one in double figures. The other starting four combined for 20 points.
"That's a true observation," Slocum said. "Guys were 2 for 7, 3 for 7, or whatever it is. We've got guys that are open. They've got to make shots."
YSU was 32 of 59 from the floor, while Wright State was 31 of 57.
Wright State (18-9, 9-5) observed YSU cutting into its 72-62 lead with 7:18 remaining.
Morse found a way to cut through the Wright State defense with 1:26 left by contorting his body and finding a way to bank in a layup as YSU trailed, 81-79.
Morse missed a 3 with 28 seconds remaining, but Kaufman, who made his presence known under the hoop, had a key offensive rebound to trim the Raiders lead to 82-81.
Mark Alstork, who led Wright State with 33 points, made both ends of a one-and-one with 20.5 seconds left, pushing the Raiders' lead to 84-81. Wright State never trailed in this game.
YSU set up for the last possession.
Wright State keyed on Morse, who has the propensity to shoot from 25 feet. The Raider defense spread out the Penguins and slapped a double team on Morse. Morse missed a 3-pointer earlier in the possession.
Wright State coach Scott Nagy said his team had to play out on Morse.
"You've got to make him get rid of the ball," he said. "We probably don't treat anybody else in the league like that. There's nobody else in the league that can score like him. When he can get going like that, he can almost shut his eyes and the ball is going to go in.
"You have to do something else. You have to make somebody else beat you."
That left Brett Frantz open for a 3. He missed and Ursuline graduate Mark Hughes grabbed the rebound for the Raiders and was fouled.
Hughes missed both free throws, but teammate Grant Benzinger, who had 12 points, grabbed the second miss and ended the game. Benzinger is the son of former Cincinnati Reds player Todd Benzinger, who played for the 1990 World Series champions.
Morse said his play opened up during the second half, after the Penguins were down 43-34 at halftime. He figured out the Wright State defense.
"The first half it threw me off a little bit," Morse said. "I'm more comfortable coming off ball screens. Them hedging and trapping me out 25 feet, it got me rattled a little.
"In the second half, I adjusted and I felt better."
Alstork excelled in the second half as well, scoring 21 of his points there.
Justin Mitchell added 13, while Steven Davis had 11 for Wright State.
Morse was 13 of 23 from the floor, 4 of 11 from 3 and 5 of 6 from the line, while Alstork was 10 of 18 from the floor, 2 of 5 from 3 and 11 of 11 from the line.
"When you take 18 shots and score 33 points, you play good," Nagy said. "I've always told our players to be a consistent scorer, a great consistent scorer, they have to get to the free-throw line a lot."
As for Morse, he's not worried about the other teammates not contributing despite having nights of 44, 25 and 35 the past three games. He's worried about his games, and how he contributes.
"I'm giving it my all, but at the same time I feel I'm not giving enough," Morse said. "The shot before Brett's shot, I felt that was a makeable shot for me even though it was a tough shot. It was a makeable shot. I feel stuff like that, little defensive plays I need to work on so we can get the win."
Saturday, YSU hosts Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m.