By Cameron Stubbs
The Youngstown State University basketball team accepted an invitation to participate in The Basketball Classic tournament. The 32-team tournament announced the matchups March 13, slating the Penguins against Morgan State University.
The Penguins were 1-0 all-time versus the Bears as their last meeting came in the 1985-86 season.
This is the Penguins’ first game in two weeks as their last matchup was in the Horizon League Tournament versus Robert Morris University.
The Colonials punished the Penguins with their efforts inside the paint as they scored 40 points in the paint and 25 total foul shots.
The 77-73 loss to the Raiders put the Penguins’ season in limbo, but basketball has returned to the Beeghly Center for one last home game for now.
Head coach Jerrod Calhaun commented on the recent loss and the upcoming matchup.
“It takes a couple days [to get over the loss]. After about 48 hours, we started talking, and you could hear our guys get excited about this tournament and the opportunity to keep playing basketball,” Calhoun said.
This postseason appearance is the second for the Penguins in the past three seasons.
The early Horizon League tournament loss against Robert Morris was a tough one, but the monumental season by the Penguins will not be forgotten.
Calhoun commented on the historic season for the Penguins and what they have accomplished so far.
“We have a great group of guys. We’ve got multiple guys working on master’s degrees, [the] highest [team] GPA in the history of [the] school, three winning seasons in a row — there’s a lot of positive momentum for this program,” Calhoun said.
Their 18-14 record was the third-straight winning season for the Penguins. Setting the school record with 12 Horizon League wins made them a force in the conference.
A recap of the game against the Bears is posted on ysusports.com
