Penguin men ready to resume Horizon League play with Cleveland State matchup
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YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team finished off its non-league schedule with back-to-back wins over Southern and Central Michigan heading into the holiday break.
It's the best non-league record the Penguins have recorded since head coach Jerrod Calhoun and his staff took over six years ago.
Now, it's onward and upward.
"To get a win going into the holiday was really good, to finish out the non-league at 8-3, the best we've done here in our six years was really important. But now it's a new season," Calhoun said Wednesday. "That chapter is closed, and non-league is in the books at 8-3. It was a heck of an accomplishment but our guys want more and now it starts in Horizon League play with 18 games left."
The Penguins (9-4, 1-1) started off their Horizon League schedule at the beginning of December with a 77-73 loss to Northern Kentucky and a 88-77 win over Wright State. They resume their Horizon League schedule tonight against Cleveland State (7-6, 2-0) at 8 p.m. at the Beeghly Center as part of a doubleheader with the women's team.
The Vikings enter tonight's matchup after losing three of their past four matchups but are coming off a 30-point victory over Mt. St. Joseph.
Junior Tristan Enaruna leads the Vikings with 10.9 points per game, while Deshon Parker has tallied 10.1. They are the only two Vikings who average in double digits, but Tae Williams (9.6), Drew Lowder (8.5), Deante Johnson (8.0), Yahel Hill (7.4), and Jayson Woodrich (6.4) are all averaging over five points per game this season.
Calhoun said the Vikings have built something special over the last few years and admires what Daniyal Robinson has continued in his first year.
"They have championship DNA I think it was started a few years back and it has certainly carried over to this year," Calhoun said. "They have four or five guys that have won two championships in the Horizon League and played in the NCAA tournament. Deshon Parker does a heck of a job leading their team. He's a winner and (Deante) Spider Johnson, their big kid, is kind of the unsung hero of their team. He's a great rim protector and he's great in pick-and-roll coverages.
"They have a tenacity to mix their defenses up. They keep you off guard and I think their new coach has done an exceptional job with this group."
Of their six losses this season, three came in the month of December against St. Bonaventure, Kent State, and Loyola Marymount. Those three losses came by an average of 13 points per game but guard Brandon Rush knows the Vikings can still be stifling defensively.
"Their ability to guard the ball is actually really impressive," Rush said. "When you drive baseline, like three guys collapse to you so you have to be looking for that and also the fact that they will probably start doubling Dwayne since he's having an incredible year this year. They'll probably try to get the ball out of his hands."
So far this season, Cohill is averaging 18.2 points per game, which is good enough for third in the Horizon League, and he also caught fire in December.
The Cleveland native scored 43 points against Wright State and then went on to score 26 points in both of Youngstown State's most recent wins, over Southern and Central Michigan.
"Dwayne has played at an exceptional level and I think it starts with his shooting," Calhoun said. "Anytime you can shoot the ball 60 percent from the field, 60 from three, and getting to the line and making big free throws. He's just making the right play, I've said it since we got him. He has a great understanding of how to play out of pick and rolls, and a great understanding of how to play off the ball. He's done some remarkable things here early in the season."
Youngstown State has been playing strong as a whole in general. They lead the Horizon League in scoring, tallying 85 points per game, and have allowed 73.3 points defensively. Part of their success has come from the Penguins' ability to come together. With a slew of new transfers this season, Youngstown State is starting to gel together, and Rush and his teammates are starting to see it.
"Just playing with each other day in and day out, it shows on the court," Rush said. "I remember at the beginning of the season, he (Calhoun) wanted us to get to 17 assists a game. Now we're just moving the ball and we're a transition team like that's what we do, so when we get out in transition we can kick it ahead and move the ball around and attack the rim. That's something we all do really well."
The Penguins will look to take another step forward tonight when they take on the Vikings and resume their Horizon League schedule.