Resurgent Penguins win fourth straight
Top UIC 66-64 on the road
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CHICAGO -- If January was the month of narrow games slipping, February has started as the month Youngstown State closes those very contests out.
For the second consecutive contest, Youngstown State absorbed runs from its opponent and gutted out a critical Horizon League victory, this one with late defensive stops to secure a 66-64 win over UIC on Saturday at Credit Union1 Arena.
The victory is YSU's fourth in a row, and gave the Penguins a win in their final conference trip to UIC, as the Flames are departing for the Missouri Valley Conference this offseason.
It also was YSU's fifth road Horizon League victory, a program record.
Of his team's response to adversity this season, YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said, "They never sulked and pouted, they just kept working. This is a really good group to coach, and I've said that from Day 1. Four (wins) in a row, and now we get the next five games in Youngstown. This game could have gone either way, there were a lot of ups and downs, flows of the game."
YSU (14-10, 8-6) led by as much as nine in the second half, a 45-36 advantage with 12:06 to play, before UIC (8-12, 4-7) rallied back to take a 55-52 lead with 5:39 to go.
The teams went back and forth. Dwayne Cohill put YSU up 64-61 with 1:32 to go before Damaria Frankllin forced a turnover and hammered down a one-hand slam at the other end to draw the Flames back to within 64-63 with 30 seconds to go. He led UIC in scoring with 23 points, while Jalen Warren scored 13 and Jace Carter added 10.
On its ensuing possession, YSU got whistled for a 10-second violation, and the Flames took possession with 13.9 to go.
But the Penguin defense answered the bell, as Shemar Rathan-Mayes stole a loose ball and hit a pair of free throws at the other end to put YSU up 66-63. On UIC's next possession, Cohill wisely fouled Warren to put him at the line for a 1-and-1.
Warren sank the first and missed the second, and Tevin Olison came up with the defensive rebound to secure the win. The game had 16 lead changes and eight ties.
"To go on the road and hold somebody to 64 points, that's a connected team," Calhoun said while also giving credit to UIC's guards. "Defensively, we can go be the best defensive team in the league the last month and a half. We have a chance to do something."
Of the final stand, Calhoun added, "You have to give our guys a lot of credit for the toughness and the grit."
Cohill and Olison were exceptional throughout the contest for the Penguins. Cohill scored 19 points and added eight rebounds, while Olison led the team with 21 points and notched six rebounds.
Of those points, Cohill scored 11 after halftime and Olison added 14 in the same span.
Owen Long, meanwhile, provided a much-needed spark in the first half. After UIC went on a 10-3 run to take a 23-16 lead, Long hit a 3-pointer and a jumper to provide a quick five points and get YSU back to within four points, 25-21, and from there his teammates joined the mix as the Penguins took a 32-29 lead into the intermission.
Long finished with five points and three boards, and Michael Akuchie added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Cohill and Olison's ability to drive to the basket factored largely into YSU's plan to attack the rim. That was a point of emphasis for Calhoun entering the game, and the Penguins outscored UIC in the paint 44-20.
"Dwayne Cohill was special tonight getting downhill, and so was Tevin Olison. Mike's a beast, he had 11 and 11 for us today," Calhoun said.
Of Long's first-half performance, he added, "He played awesome, and he really was a spark. We were really dragging there offensively, and he comes into the game ready to go."
With their brief two-game road stint wrapped up, the resurgent Penguins now play five consecutive games home in the Beeghly Center, beginning Wednesday with Oakland.
It will mark a pivotal stretch for the Penguins, who are within striking distance of the top four in the Horizon League standings. That would secure a first-round bye in the league postseason tournament as well as a home quarterfinal game.
"It's time for Youngstown fans to come out and support these kids," Calhoun said of the upcoming homestand. "We have a real chance of getting into that top four."
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com