YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The YSU Men’s basketball team has won five of their first six conference games and sits atop the Horizon League standings in first place.
But this upcoming stretch will be critical. Their next three games will come against the next three teams in the league standings, all of which are just a half-game back of the Penguins.
Watch the video above to hear from the team as they prepare for this challenging stretch.
“So many of our guys don’t know how the Horizon League works because they never played in the Horizon League,” said YSU head coach Ethan Faulkner. “So we went through the whole thing, a top four seed you’re going to get a bye. We broke all that down for them and talked about this five-game stretch, how important it was, playing some of the better teams in the league, some of the teams that you’re going to be competing against to win regular season championships, to win conference tournament championships.”
“This next game we got coming up, it’s a battle for the top spot,” said Penguins guard Nico Galette. “Like coach says, rent is due. We got a good spot going right now. We just got to fight to keep it.”
The Penguins will start that run against Northern Kentucky Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. That will also mark the first time Ethan Faulkner will face his alma mater as a head coach.
“It’s funny because the people that I played for, the people that I worked with there, there’s not one of them still there,” Faulkner said. “So I really don’t have any connection to the place in terms of the people that were there when I was there. And to be honest with you, me playing there, me coaching there, it’s going to have no impact on who wins and loses this game. And that’s really where my focus is, is what it’s going to take to win this game.”
The Penguins and Norse will tipoff Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
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