Dec. 31, 2011
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jeremy Montgomery scored 21 points, hitting a career-high tying six three-pointers, and D'Aundray Brown added 20 points, but Youngstown State shot 58-percent from the field and handed Cleveland State its first loss at home this season with a 73-67 win on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
The win drops CSU to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the Horizon League, while the Penguins improved to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in league play.
The loss also snapped a 17-game win streak against schools in Ohio for the Vikings and a five game losing streak against CSU for the Penguins.
"You have to give Youngstown State a lot of credit because they outplayed us today," head coach Gary Waters said. "We didn't play Cleveland State basketball. We made it an offensive game, not a defensive game. We were trying to match them basket for basket and that is not us. We average 65 points per game and today we scored 67. But we gave up 73 and we just can't do that.
"They shot the ball very well, especially from three-point. Anytime they had a glimpse at an open three, they hit it. They have five very good offensive players and we needed to match them with our five very good defensive players. But we didn't do that today."
Montgomery hit 7-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-8 from three-point, adding three assists. Brown connected on 7-of-13 from the field and both of his three pointers as the duo scored 41 of CSU's 67 points.
Tim Kamczyc added seven points, four rebounds and a career-high six assists.
After YSU's Blake Allen opened the game with a three-pointer, the Vikings used back-to-back buckets from Brown and Aaron Pogue to take their first lead of the game (4-3) with 17:02 left.
However, the Penguins used hot shooting over the next six plus minutes and used a 16-3 run to take a 12 point lead (19-7) with 10:26 left on a DuShawn Brooks three-pointer. YSU hit eight of its first 15 shots from the field to open the game and race out to the lead.
A Brown put back with 9:26 left stopped the YSU run and started a 13-1 run Viking run that pulled CSU even at 20-20 with 5:22 left in the half.
Brown had a steal and breakaway dunk in the run, while Montgomery's three-pointer tied the game at 20-20.
But Montgomery wasn't done from behind the arc.
After five straight points from the Penguins put them back ahead, 25-20, with 3:47 to go, Montgomery capped an 11-2 Viking run with three consecutive three-pointers, putting CSU ahead, 31-27, with just under a minute to play.
Montgomery tried to make it four straight three's, but could not convert with just over 10 seconds to play, leading to a short jumper by Kendrick Perry on the other end just before the halftime buzzer, sending CSU into the locker room with a 31-29 lead.
The teams traded the lead for the first five minutes of the second half until a 14-7 spurt by YSU five minutes into the stanza allowed them to extend a one point lead to eight points (52-44) with 10:47 left.
But back-to-back three-pointers by Montgomery and Kamczyz and a basket by Kamczyc with the shot clock winding down closed the Vikings within one at 57-56 with just over five minutes to play. The YSU lead was still one point (59-58) with 4:31 left, but the Penguins scored seven of the next eight points to assume a 66-59 lead with 1:52 left.
The Penguins hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
"We were able to get it down to one or two points with about four or five minutes left, but then it blew up on us," Waters said. "Today was a great crowd and they gave us some energy, but we didn't give them the performance they deserved. We'll get back to working on the basics to get this right."
Damian Eargle led YSU with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
CSU shot 24-of-52 (.462) from the field, hitting 10-of-21 from three-point (.462), while the Penguins made 25-of-43 (.581) from the floor and 8-of-16 from three-point.
The Vikings are back in action on Thursday (Jan. 5) when CSU hosts UIC at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
Postgame Player Notes
Senior Guard D'Aundray Brown
• Finished with 20 points and three rebounds, hitting 7-of-13 from the field and both of his three-pointers.
• Moved his career scoring total to 810 points.
• Made all four of his free throws.
Senior Guard Jeremy Montgomery
• Scored 21 points, going 7-of-10 from the field.
• Went 6-of-8 from three-point, tying his career-high for three-pointers made in a game.
• Sparked an 11-2 run near the end of the first half with three consecutive three-pointers.
Game Notes
• Today was the 76th all-time meeting between CSU and Youngstown State, making the Penguins the most-often played opponent in school history. CSU leads the series, 39-37. The YSU win snapped a five game win streak for CSU in the series.
• The loss was CSU's first setback in the Wolstein Center this year (4-1).
• CSU played its sixth game in program history on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31). The loss dropped CSU to 4-2 all-time on Dec. 31. All six games have been played at home.
• Today's loss snapped a 17 game win streak against schools in Ohio for Cleveland State. The last time CSU lost a game to a school in Ohio prior to today was a 72-59 setback at Ohio State (12/22/09).
• Both teams shot well from three-point today. Cleveland State hit 10-of-21, while YSU made 8-for-16.
