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Six straight for YSU

Quisenberry sets frosh record in win over UIC

Special to Tribune Chronicle / Robert Hayes Darius Quisenberry (3) of Youngstown State works under the basket Saturday in the Penguins’ 81-73 win over Illinois-Chicago at Beeghly Center.

YOUNGSTOWN — Billy Hahn, a former West Virginia assistant basketball coach, had a big impact on the Mountaineers and then WVU director of basketball operations Jerrod Calhoun.

Calhoun, now the Youngstown State University men’s basketball coach, has a team on a six-game winning streak after Saturday’s 81-73 win over UIC.

“He said, ‘The mind is a powerful tool. You say something every day and you believe in that, it’s going to happen.’ I’ve heard our guys say that quite a bit. When we got to West Virginia and got everybody together and said, ‘We’re going to the Final Four.’ It took us three years to get there, but we went to the Final Four.

“Maybe that’s rubbing off on those guys?”

Darius Quisenberry had the Flames (14-13, 8-6 Horizon League) in a trance all night with a game-high 37 points. He was 10-of-19 from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 14-of-16 from the foul line. He also had a team-high four assists.

Special to Tribune Chronicle / Robert Hayes Youngstown State’s Devin Morgan, left, drives on UIC’s Rob Howard during Saturday’s 81-73 win to drive the Penguins to six straight wins for the first time since the 1997-98 season when YSU won seven straight.

Saturday, Quisenberry set YSU’s freshman record for points in a game in front of 4,917 fans.

“You can get to the line 16 times as a freshman in front of 5,000 and get 37 and beat a really good team, that’s why we recruited him to help us turn this thing around and build something special,” said Calhoun, who is in his second year at YSU.

Offense is fine and dandy, but defense has been the catalyst behind this six-game winning streak starting on Jan. 31 on a below-zero night at Oakland (Michigan) University. This is the team’s longest winning streak since YSU won seven straight in the 1997-98 season.

It led to a 4-0 record on this homestand. YSU outrebounded UIC 36 to 28. The Penguins had 12 assists to 10 turnovers, while UIC had nine assists to 11 turnovers.

“Our defense has been the number-one thing, just locking in as a team, playing team defense, help side, low man, tagging up the roll guy,” Quisenberry said. “Personally, our defense has been our best trait.”

YSU (12-16, 8-7) is now tied for fifth place in the league with Oakland. The Penguins are a half-game back of UIC and Green Bay, which are tied for third.

It’s about progress for this YSU team, which is still trying to establish a culture of winning here in Youngstown. So far on this six-game stretch, these Penguins have been successful.

YSU is not satisfied, even with being the hottest team in the Horizon League.

“I don’t think we played as good as we were capable of tonight,” Calhoun said. “That shows you the growth, shows you the development of these young guys.”

YSU fell behind 19-7 with 11:47 remaining in the first half on a Godwin Boahen free throw He led the Flames with 20 points. The Penguins cut the UIC lead to 27-26 on a Quisenberry jumper about 6 minutes later. Then, it was Quisenberry’s steal and basket with 1:58 before intermission which gave YSU its first lead at 37-36. The Penguins led 43-38 after 20 minutes. Quisenberry had 17 points and Devin Morgan had all of his 15 points in the first half. Jelani Simmons finished with 10 points.

The second half was slow, methodical and frustrating for YSU. The Penguins were 0-of-13 from the floor to start the final 20 minutes. It wasn’t until Simmons’ shot with 8:32 left gave YSU its first basket of the half. The Penguins trailed 56-53 at that point, all YSU’s point came on free throws prior to that score. The Penguins were 21-of-31 from the foul line. YSU only shot 8 of 25 in the second half, but it was defensive stands by the Penguins.

UIC’s leading scorers Boahen, Tarkus Ferguson and Marcus Ottey all got near or past their averages. They are a hard trio to stop.

“I think we were all getting frustrated, players, coaches. I know I was,” Calhoun said about the second-half scoring drought. “You got to give our guys credit. To hold that team to 73 points, they’re a high-powered scoring machine-type team. Those three guards are as good as there is in mid-major basketball.”

As frustrating as that was, it was more for sophomore Garrett Covington, who was injured late in Thursday’s IUPUI win. The Penguins 6-5 wing is in concussion protocol and sat on the YSU bench Saturday in street clothes.

The signs of the concussion did not show up until after Thursday’s game, normal of concussion symptoms.

“We didn’t know it was a concussion at that time,” Calhoun said, “(YSU men’s basketball trainer) Todd (Burkey) ran the tests and immediately, probably an hour after the game said he had a concussion.

“Kids stepped up and rallied around G. He really didn’t want to watch warm-ups tonight. He was so down and out not being able to play, probably because he knew there was going to be a really big crowd. He just wants to win. He’ll be back Thursday if he passes all the things he’s got to do this week with Todd.”

Saturday, YSU passed its test by taking a 66-65 lead on a Quisenberry layup with 4:33 left. From there, YSU never trailed.

You could feel the celebration starting in the last 30 seconds of Saturday’s game.

“I don’t think it’s nerves with our young guys,” said Calhoun, whose team has one senior and a lot of freshmen and sophomores. “The last 30 seconds I look over at Jelani Simmons and he’s over there dancing. There’s 20 seconds left and we’re up six. Game’s not over and I said to (YSU assistant coach Jason) Slay, these guys are something else.

“They’ve got a lot of energy and they haven’t been in these types of situations. It kind of shows you the youthfulness of our team.”

YSU takes this energy on a two-game road swing starting Thursday to Northern Kentucky and then next Saturday afternoon at Wright State. Both Wright State and Northern Kentucky are tied for first in the Horizon League.

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