YSU Basketball

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YSU Basketball

YSU Rides Big Second-Half Push to Defeat Detroit, 77-63
by YSU
Sunday, Jan 19, 2014 10:38 pm

The Youngstown State men's basketball team outscored Detroit by 12 points in the second half to pick up a 77-63 win over the Titans on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.

Four players finished in double figures, led by DJ Cole who scored a career-best 22 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Bobby Hain finished with 18, 11 in the second half, while Kendrick Perry and Ryan Weber each finished with 13.

Cole was 6-of-10 from the floor, but an impressive 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. He also had nine assists and six rebounds.

The win improves YSU to 12-8 on the season and 3-2 in the Horizon League. Detroit drops to 8-12 and 1-4.

The Penguins blew open a 51-47 contest by making six straight shots in a span of four-and-a-half minutes during the second half.

Weber drained a 3-pointer at 8:42 to get things rolling. Then under a minute later he drained a step-back triple on a fast break to give the Penguins a 57-47 lead.

Hain drained a wide-open 3-pointer at the 6:44 mark and on the next YSU possession he converted a layup from an nifty pass by Cole. Shawn Amiker knocked one down from 10 feet to increase the lead to 68-54.

In the second half, YSU shot 65.2 percent (15-of-23) and made a sizzling 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from behind the 3-point arc. Detroit made just one 3-pointer in nine attempts in the second half.

YSU led 28-26 at the break, but neither team was able to establish any momentum. The biggest lead for the Penguins was six while the Titans biggest advantage was four. The game was tied three teams and the team's traded the lead on four occasions.

The final tie of the first half was at 22 following a free throw by Ugochukwu Njoku at the 3:12 mark. Perry converted a layup and then two Hain free throws made the score YSU 26-22 at 55 seconds later. The Titans closed within 28-26 on a driving bank-shot by Juwan Howard with four seconds left in the period.

The Guins opened the game by making their first two 3-pointers, but after that misfired on their final seven from behind the arc. Conversely, they were 7-of-12 from inside and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

YSU was 9-of-21 from the field (42.9 percent) while the Titans made 10-of-25 attempts (40 percent) in the opening half.

The Penguins are back in action at Beeghly Center on Thursday night. YSU plays host to Valparaiso in a 7:05 p.m. contest.

YSU Rides Big Second-Half Push to Defeat Detroit, 77-63
D.J. Cole
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