Youngstown State captures first Horizon League regular season title
Penguins top IUPUI to claim conference tourney 1 seed
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INDIANAPOLIS -- The common refrain in Youngstown State's program the last few years has been to accomplish something never before done in program history.
On Saturday night, the Penguins finally attained a part of that goal.
Keyed by a huge second-half run, YSU overcame a one-point halftime deficit to top IUPUI 93-79 and claim the program's first regular season Horizon League championship and the one-seed in the conference tournament.
"I just couldn't be prouder of our group of guys," YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said. "When we put this thing together six years ago, a lot of people said we couldn't do it in Youngstown, and I think it shows you through hard work, staying the course and getting better each year -- it paid off. I give these guys so much credit. ... They stayed the course and made history."
"It's a really amazing feeling," YSU guard Brandon Rush added. "Going through my mind, it was like, 'We really just made history.' We have a great group of guys, great coaches. It shows all the hard work you put in through the season, and it shows all the hard work we put in during the summer and offseason."
The Penguins (23-8, 15-5 Horizon League) were down 39-38 at the intermission, courtesy of an efficient start from the field for the Jaguars (5-26, 2-18 Horizon League). IUPUI shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) in the first half, paced by 15 points from Jlynn Counter. He finished with a team-high 20 points.
YSU managed to stay in the mix, however, through its forwards. Adrian Nelson and Malek Green tallied 21 of YSU's 38 first-half points, Nelson with 11 and Green with 10. Nelson finished the evening with 18 points and six rebounds, while Green scored 21 and snagged eight boards.
After IUPUI took a 49-47 lead with 15:58 to go in the game, the Penguins roared to life. YSU went on a 20-2 run, keyed by three treys from Rush, who scored 11 of his 18 points during that spurt, which gave YSU a 67-51 advantage with 11:17 to go.
Then, too, the YSU defense managed to get stops which eluded the Penguins in the first half.
"I always say our offense is going to take care of itself, so defensively, once we got some stops and we got running, we knew the offense was going to come easy to us," Nelson said.
Calhoun added, "We're a spurt team. We got a couple stops, and Brandon opened it up."
Dwayne Cohill also surged after the intermission. After going 1-for-4 for two points in the first half, YSU's star guard finished with 16 points and seven assists on a 6-for-11 night. Point guard Bryce McBride added four points and six assists.
"The two forwards carried us in the first half, and then Brandon and Dwayne got going, and Bryce was great, too," Calhoun said.
IUPUI made a few final pushes down the stretch, getting to as close as eight points -- 71-63 -- with 8:47 to go. But, perhaps having learned a lesson Tuesday at Robert Morris, the Penguins absorbed that push and grew the lead back out to as much as 17 before ending with the 14-point cushion.
Garrett Covington provided a pair of first-half threes for YSU to score six points, while John Lovelace Jr. had 10 points and four rebounds. YSU held a 20-7 advantage in fast-break scoring and a 22-7 on points off turnovers. In all, the Penguins outscored their hosts 55-40 in the second half.
For IUPUI, DJ Jackson finished with 15 points to join Counter in double figures.
With the regular season in the books, YSU is off until Thursday, when it hosts the lowest remaining seed in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Tournament.
And with Cleveland State's 81-72 loss to Milwaukee, the Penguins clinched sole possession of the regular season title.
"You have to enjoy these moments," Calhoun said. "You just went through a 30-game season. You've traveled all over the country on bus rides and had shoot-arounds and game planning. We're going to enjoy this one. I think winning a regular season championship is one of the hardest things to do in college basketball.
Everybody talks about the tourney, but we're playing as good as anybody in the league. Right now you see a lot of good teams in this conference, so the conference tournament, it's the Horizon League, we know how crazy it is. But we just have to enjoy this tonight and then get back to work next week."
Nelson added, "We know the job's not finished. Of course we're happy that we got this, but we're not satisfied. We're not complacent. We're going to keep workin because we want that ring."
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com