YSU Basketball

YSU Basketball Youngstown State
Penguin Basketball Digest
YSU Basketball

Key Run Spurs Penguins to Win Over Bethune Cookman
by YSU
Thursday, Dec 19, 2013 8:43 am
Key Run Spurs Penguins to Win Over Bethune Cookman
Ryan Weber

Youngstown – The Youngstown State men's basketball team picked up a 71-59 win over Bethune Cookman on Tuesday night at the Beeghly Center. YSU scored 13 consecutive points during a key stretch between the first and second halves and led by as many as 21 points in the second half.

After scoring the final six points of the first half, the Penguins opened the second half by scoring the first second of the second stanza. The lead never shunk below 12 unitl the final bucket of the night by the Wildcats.

Of note, it was the 100th YSU victory for Head Coach Jerry Slocum. Slocum is just one of two coaches in Penguin history to reach the mark, joining the legendary Dom Rossell.

The Penguins (8-5) led 25-22 with less than 2:30 left in the first half when Kendrick Perry scored four straight points to kickstart the run. Bobby Hain ended the half with a bucket, and he punctuated the run with a three-point play at the 16:13 mark to put the Penguins up 38-22.

YSU went up by 20 for the first time at 47-27 at the 13:12 mark when Perry split a pair of free throws following a BCU technical foul. The lead reached 21 with 3:50 remaining following a pair of Weber free throws, but BCU scored seven consecutive points to get within 68-54 with just over two minutes remaining. The Guins answered the run with a Kamren Belin 3-pointer 28 seconds later.

Perry scored 19 points, making four 3-pointers and went 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. Ryan Weber had 16 and Hain finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Malik Jackson scored 12 of his points in the first 13 minutes but didn't score again until the 8:19 mark of the second half. Mikel Trapp led the Wildcats (2-12) with 18 points and knocked down half of BCU's 3-pointers. Jackson finished with 16 points on the night.

The Penguins found their shooting stroke from behind the arc making four 3-pointers in the first nine minutes to take a 15-7 lead 11:28 mark. Bethune-Cookman chipped the lead back down to three, 18-15, after a 3-pointer by Malik Jackson with 7:23 to go.

A 3-pointer by Weber and a layup by Hain pushed the YSU edge back to eight, 23-15, but the Wildcats clawed deficit back to three, 23-20, on a jumper by Travis Elliott and a free throw from Barry Smith.

YSU closed out the half on an 8-2 run keyed by a 3-pointer and four free throws by Perry and a jumper by Hain to give the Penguins a 31-22 halftime lead.

In the first half, YSU shot 41.7 percent from the floor but was outrebounded by the Wildcats, 19-12. BCU had seven offensive rebounds but converted just two points on those second chances.

For the game, the Penguins shot 44 percent (22-of-50) and half of their made field goals came from behind the 3-point line (11-of-28). BCU shot 43.8 percent converting 21-of-48 attempts.

The Penguins visit Big East member St. John's, Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 and carried on 570 WKBN.

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