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YSU survives Westminster

Penguins rally in 2nd half of 91-83 win

By Marc Weems 3 min read

YOUNGSTOWN -- After a rocky first half that saw the Youngstown State University men's basketball team trailing by as many as 10 points, the Penguins prevailed over Westminster College, 91-83, Tuesday at Beeghly Center.

In the first half, YSU made mistakes while missing shots which is ultimately what got the Penguins down early and often in the half.

"If we had ten Garrett Covingtons, we win the league because he plays the game the right way. He gets in the gym and does the work," YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said.

Covington finished with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists on 80 percent shooting.

Former Niles standout Cameron Kane-Johnson came out firing for Westminster. He scored 18 first-half points on 7-of-11 shooting with three 3-pointers.

"It feels great. I had a lot of people here supporting me," Kane-Johnson said. "It feels great especially because I'm from this area. I wanted to come here to play but I didn't get many looks. When we played them last year, I didn't play as good as I wanted to. I've been waiting for this."

He helped the Scots grab a 49-41 halftime lead as they shot 52.6 percent from the field while hitting six 3-point shots.

"Basically, we didn't have the intensity that we needed to have," Covington said. "We are playing a Division III team but we can't take them lightly. We played very relaxed and soft in the first half.

"First of all, it's stressful on us and fans probably think we stink. Sometimes we need some games like this. I thought Westminster came in really prepared. You gotta get things done in the first half. We need to try and get better."

Calhoun said he believed that his players were shell-shocked in the first half.

"We lost to Northern Kentucky when they were in Division II when I was at West Virginia. I was scouting the game and we lost the game. Hopefully our guys realize where we are at. We are not a very good defensive basketball team," Calhoun said.

In the second half, the Penguins came out with a different energy than the first half.

"I thought the Youngstown area has a lot of good talent," Westminster coach Kevin Siroki said. "From tonight, you can see that there is great talent in the area. A lot of people don't know how close we are to Youngstown."

Westminster boasts nine Youngstown-area players on its 20-man roster.

Westminster shot just 35.3 percent in the second half while YSU outscored it 50-34 in the half to win.

"Our rotations were too slow and we knew in the second half that we needed to be one unit. Rotations were a big part of that. Communicating and just talking to one another is the key for us," Covington said.

YSU now goes on the road for a three-game trip Friday through Sunday.

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