Another disappointing loss. I really liked how the game was going in the first half. YSU was playing very good defensive and was making shots...felt like a recipe for a win as it was much like the gritty wins from last year.
YSU was leading 34-26 was under 3 to go then all hell broke loose. Oakland closes the half on a 12-2 run and that coupled with a 15-0 run in the 2nd half was all she wrote. It really was inexplicable that YSU was trailing at the half even as bad as they played in the closing mins. YSU was still up 6 with 40 some seconds to go, and then was up 2 with the ball and the shot clock turned off; they took a quick 3 followed up by a turnover and they are trailing by 2 at the half. That ending seemed to suck the life out of YSU.
Oakland out-hustled YSU, got the loose balls, made shots, and looked way more athletic in the 2nd half. Too many 3's by YSU and then played frustrated and not good defense. The Oakland-YSU games always come down to the wire and never turned into what happened tonight even back to the end of the Slocum era.
Myles Hunter made the most of his start as he was tremendous in the first half and I think all of his 18 came in the first half. I really like this kid. He definitely needs to start. Akuchie was out of sync and as usual when he doesn't get to double figures YSU usually loses.
YSU is really missing that spark DQ gave them last year. Even without DQ, I thought this team would improve as the games went on, but there's just no consistency. I feel like Saturday is pretty much a must win now or 3-7 is going to be very difficult to dig out of even with an easier 2nd half schedule.
I'm shocked CSU is now 9-0 after beating Wright St., who has dropped 3 of their last 4. Those are clearly the best 2 teams in the league. It's hard to get a good read on a lot of the teams as they've played 3-5 less games other than Oakland and Fort Wayne, who are both 1 up on YSU at 4-5.