2008 Woodie Awards
Clash of rivals: Senior day highlights opportunity for Penguin revenge
Aaron Blatch, Sports Reporter
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Sports
The Youngstown State men's basketball team will face Cleveland State on Saturday, in what will be both the last regular season game of the season and the final game for seniors Byron Davis, John Barber, Dwight Holmes and George Cotal at the Beeghly Center.
Barber said that even though Saturday is his Senior Day, his only focus is on avenging a December loss to the Vikings (19-11, 11-6 in-conference).
"The seniors haven't really talked about senior day," Barber said. "We treat it like every other game, so of course we want to win."
YSU assistant coach Byron Thorne said that the combination of senior day and the matchup with an intrastate rival makes this game an important one for the Penguins.
"I think it's a special day for the seniors and it's a bonus to get a win for them," Thorne said. "With Cleveland State being a rival there's some extra motivation too."
The Penguins must do a better job of taking care of the basketball than in the previous meeting with the Vikings, which was a 77-54 loss. Numerous turnovers led to fast break lay-ups on the other end, allowing Cleveland State to shoot 64.6 percent from the floor.
Despite the Vikings' 20 fast break points in that game, Thorne said that the Penguins do not need to slow down the tempo. They just want to limit turnovers and get back in transition.
"I don't think we want to slow it down," he said. "We want to push the pace but we have to limit the bad turnovers that lead to lay-ups. We want to push it as much as they do."
When the Penguins run the break, the ball will likely be in the hands of Davis, the team's leading scorer at 15.5 points per game. Davis is coming off a career-game against Buffalo in which he scored 29 points, the most by a Penguin this season.
The senior struggled in the last game against the Vikings, scoring just six points on 2-12 shooting.
Thorne does not expect a repeat of that performance this time around, attributing his lack of success more to a tough shooting night than anything the Vikings did defensively.
Barber said that even though Saturday is his Senior Day, his only focus is on avenging a December loss to the Vikings (19-11, 11-6 in-conference).
"The seniors haven't really talked about senior day," Barber said. "We treat it like every other game, so of course we want to win."
YSU assistant coach Byron Thorne said that the combination of senior day and the matchup with an intrastate rival makes this game an important one for the Penguins.
"I think it's a special day for the seniors and it's a bonus to get a win for them," Thorne said. "With Cleveland State being a rival there's some extra motivation too."
The Penguins must do a better job of taking care of the basketball than in the previous meeting with the Vikings, which was a 77-54 loss. Numerous turnovers led to fast break lay-ups on the other end, allowing Cleveland State to shoot 64.6 percent from the floor.
Despite the Vikings' 20 fast break points in that game, Thorne said that the Penguins do not need to slow down the tempo. They just want to limit turnovers and get back in transition.
"I don't think we want to slow it down," he said. "We want to push the pace but we have to limit the bad turnovers that lead to lay-ups. We want to push it as much as they do."
When the Penguins run the break, the ball will likely be in the hands of Davis, the team's leading scorer at 15.5 points per game. Davis is coming off a career-game against Buffalo in which he scored 29 points, the most by a Penguin this season.
The senior struggled in the last game against the Vikings, scoring just six points on 2-12 shooting.
Thorne does not expect a repeat of that performance this time around, attributing his lack of success more to a tough shooting night than anything the Vikings did defensively.
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