Men's basketball squeak out a win in Beeghly nail-biter

At least they keep it interesting.The Youngstown State University men's basketball team relinquished all but two of a 22-point lead in the final 9 minutes of Thursday's game against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay before pulling it together with seconds to go in a nail-biting 77-73 upset victory at home.

It was the first time since joining the Horizon League in 2001 that the Penguins (9-15, 6-8 HL) won three straight league games.

"I don't care what the score is," YSU Coach Jerry Slocum said in the post-game press conference. "If you watch college basketball, nobody is blowing anybody out this time of year."

The win means something, Slocum said, because it comes against what he considers the best team in the league. The Phoenix (19-7, 11-3 HL) had won five in a row prior to Thursday's loss, including a Feb. 2 victory over nationally ranked Butler.

"They've been the hottest team in the league," Slocum said. "Our guys have a real confidence right now."

Junior guard DeAndre Mays, who led the Penguins with 21 points, agreed.

"It's a big game for us to win," Mays said. "It gives us great confidence going in to make a push for a run in the conference tournament."

The Penguins jumped out to an early lead in the opening minutes of the first half thanks to strong three-point shooting and a foul-happy Green Bay team. Tom Parks, Ashen Ward, Vytas Sulskis and Kelvin Bright all hit three pointers within the first twelve minutes of the game, contributing to YSU's 16-point lead at the half.

Youngstown State shot 52.2 percent in the first half, besting the 32 percent output from an anemic Green Bay. However, those numbers nearly flipped in the second half as Green Bay got hot and the Penguins struggled to hold on to their sizable lead.

With 9:19 left on the clock, the Penguins began a downward slide they almost failed to recover from. The Phoenix chipped away at their lead until, with 42 seconds left in the game, Green Bay's Troy Cotton hit a clutch three pointer, reducing YSU's advantage to only two points.

"I think guys got tired and we just lost our focus," Mays said, attempting to explain the second half of the second half.

The Penguins managed to scrape together a five-point lead with 15 seconds left, but again were reduced to two points with only 5 seconds remaining.

YSU senior forward Zach Rebillot was intentionally fouled with 2 seconds left, and came through for the Penguins with two big free throw points to secure the 77-73 victory.

Mays said of the hard-fought victory: "We just gutted up."

On Saturday, the Penguins face a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee team that, on paper, is nearly as tough as Green Bay.

"In this business you're only as good as your last ballgame," Slocum said. "And we've got a tough Milwaukee team coming in."

Mays added, "We're gonna have to grind it out just like we did tonight.