By Dylan Lux / The Jambar
History was made in Corteva Coliseum as the Youngstown State University men’s basketball team made its first ever appearance in the finals of the Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships.
Following an 88-79 loss at Northern Kentucky University to end the regular season, YSU earned the No. 4 seed headed into the Horizon League Championships.
The Penguins could have fallen to the fifth seed, but a 68-57 victory by Cleveland State University over Purdue University Fort Wayne kept the ’Guins in position for a first-round bye and a home game inside Beeghly Center.
In the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championships, Youngstown State faced the fifth-seeded aforementioned Mastodons on March 6 at home.
Before the postseason, the teams split the season series, as each team won on its home courts.
Despite the ’Guins leading for only 19 seconds in the first half, they led all the way through the second, even gaining a lead of 15 points.
The ’Dons made a late comeback attempt and trimmed the lead to just one point with eight seconds remaining. YSU was able to hold them off, and advanced to the conference semifinals in Indianapolis.
The Penguins faced No. 2 Cleveland State on March 10 inside Corteva Coliseum. Youngstown State battled with the Vikings in a defensive-heavy matchup that only saw 43 total first-half points and 57 in the second-half.
The Penguins had to rely on their defense against the Vikings, as the offense struggled as it shot 36% from the field.
For fifth-year senior Nico Galette, he said that defense has been a focus all season.
“The whole year our coaches have been preaching that defense is the way,” Galette said. “If we can be a more gritty and tougher team, we’re going to be hard to beat.”
In the finals, Youngstown State faced the No. 1 seeded Robert Morris University, who won the Horizon League’s regular season championship.
The Colonials started the game hot, with an 11-0 run to open the finals. The ’Guins managed to battle back and cut the deficit to five at halftime, down 34-29.
A focal point in the second half for RMU was its three-point shooting. The Colonials buried eight three pointers on 12 attempts.
With the barrage of three pointers in the second half, the Penguins offense couldn’t keep up and fell to the Colonials in their first Horizon League Championship appearance, 89-78.
Head Coach Ethan Faulkner said the team struggled on the defensive end, which Robert Morris took advantage of.
“Credit to [RMU], they played excellent basketball right from the start,” Faulkner said. “It just didn’t feel like we had it defensively. We gave up 89 points, 23 assists to eight turnovers and they dominated us on the offensive glass.”
With the conclusion of the game, Galette made the All-Tournament Team for the Horizon League Championships. Over his three tournament games, he scored 52 points, grabbed 29 rebounds, eight steals, eight assists and blocked two shots.
The men’s basketball team could still be selected for the National Invitational Tournament, College Basketball Invitational or the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament.
The Penguins will have to wait until March 16 to see if they made a postseason tournament, following the conclusion of Selection Sunday.
