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YOUNGSTOWN -- Francisco Santiago likes to lead by example.
The Youngstown State junior point guard is never one to stop hustling at every possession. The 6-foot-1 men's basketball player is a prime example during practices, willing to do the extra things to improve his game.
Santiago was one of five players on his team to make the honor roll during the past fall semester, and one of 119 student-athletes on campus.
Hard work never eludes the junior guard.
That's why it's hard to fathom why his team has had two of their worst Horizon League performances of the season against Oakland and Detroit Mercy in the past two games -- dropping to 10-15 overall and 4-8 in the Horizon League.
YSU squandered an opportunity to move up the Horizon League standings. Instead, the Penguins are tied with Detroit Mercy and Milwaukee for seventh place with Cleveland State in last place.
Santiago said the coaches are doing their jobs with the players. He's trying to motivate his teammates. He said that motivation has to come from each and every player, something he learned as player at St. Ignatius High School.
"It gets frustrating," Santiago said. "I would do anything for those guys on the team. I'd run through a wall for them, no matter what. Whatever they need, I'll do it -- on or off the court. I know there's games where we come in and they're right there with you. Everything's great. Everybody's giving it their all. We look like a very good basketball team, team that could do some damage. Then there's games, like the past two we just had. You're just sitting there. You have no answers. You're shaking your head, 'Why can't we come out here with the same energy that we had in big games that we won? And, why can't we do it after big wins? It gets frustrating that I know what we're capable of. I know how good we can be. It's frustrating we're not doing things necessary to be as good as we can be."
The Penguins have given up 90 points in two straight home games to Oakland and Detroit Mercy. YSU allowed more than 50 percent from the floor in those contests.
This is a far cry from the team that played good defense against CSU, and at Wright State and Green Bay. Saturday, YSU let a five-point halftime deficit grow into a 23-6 Detroit run. The Titans shot 60 percent in the second half.
"We'll win a game and have an opportunity to string a few together, and put ourselves in a good situation," Santiago said. "We'll put all our effort into one game. You think, this is the time we're able to put some wins together in a row, maybe. We come out the next game and we're not as focused, we're not as energetic. We're not as excited to play the game. That's when the losses start coming in multiples.
"In the last game, we got punched out early in the second half and we just couldn't get up," Santiago said. "That's us coming out flat. That's us coming out with no energy. That's how it's been. We've got to find a way to get over that, to have the energy every game and try to string a few wins together."
There are six games remaining in the regular season with a game at UIC on Thursday, a team the Penguins lost to in overtime last month.
"This is a game we definitely need," Santiago said. "We felt we needed these two at home (Oakland and Detroit), two games that could get us into a position we wanted to be in. We've got to get back on track with UIC. Personally, I felt like I gave that game way here at home. I didn't play well. I had five turnovers. That led to a lot of baskets. I didn't play well defensively.
"I'm going to look to be better, more aggressive, play better defensively and do whatever it takes to help us get a win there."
Now, will YSU be willing to climb back into the standings?
The answer is not black and white, more like Jekyll and Hyde -- which Penguins team shows up on a specific night, or practice for that matter.
"It's out there," YSU coach Jerry Slocum said. "It's not like it's a hidden secret from our coaching standpoint. Things that we've brought up. Things that we've brought up prior to games. We haven't been very consistent. I mentioned to our staff (Monday) this is an issue we talked about back in November, how inconsistent our practices were. Two good days. Two bad days. It's been an issue for us all year long.
"It takes good leadership to have that kind of consistency every day, to have a feeling of urgency. You have to practice well to play well. That is something we have not had."