Youngstown State University
5-6
High Point
4-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Point | 31 | 38 | 69 |
| Youngstown State | 32 | 50 | 82 |
Penguins Catch Fire in Second Half to Beat High Point, 82-69
12/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Youngstown -- Youngstown State shot 64 percent in the second half and got a career-high 20 points from Sirlester Martin to defeat High Point 82-69 on Tuesday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins hit 11 of their first 16 shots of the second half to turn a 36-36 tie into a 59-46 lead on a Martin bucket with just over 10 minutes remaining on the clock. High Point never got closer than nine the rest of the contest.
Once High Point tied the score at 36-36 on two free throws from Jairus Simms, YSU scored five straight points and nine of the next 11 to take a 45-38 advantage on a Vance Cooksey bucket.
Simms' jumper with 12:23 remaining got High Point to within 52-46 with 12:23 remaining, but that's when YSU started to pull away. Ashen Ward and Cooksey hit on back-to-back possessions, Vytas Sulskis made a free throw, and Martin's bucket put YSU up 59-46.
Martin's tip with just over two minutes remaining put the Penguins up by 15 for the first time and gave him his 20th point.
Six Penguins scored at least seven points, and Martin was one rebound shy of a double-double. Sulskis added 13 points, 10 of which came from the free-throw line, and DeAndre Mays scored 11. Zack Rebillot chipped in with 10 points, tying his career high that he set at Green Bay on Saturday.
Daniels scored 18 points and had eight rebounds while Nick Barbour had 15 points to lead High Point.
YSU outscored High Point 22-7 off turnovers, holding its turnover total to 13 against the Panthers' 40 minutes of full-court pressure. High Point committed 19 turnovers.
The Penguins led by as many as eight in the first half, but they needed two of Martin's 14 first-half points on their last possession to take a 32-31 lead at the break.
YSU was 12-for-28 in the first half and 16-for-25 in the second period to finish with a season-high 52.8 percent effort. High Point shot 49 percent but was just 3-for-13 from behind the 3-point arc.
High Point jumped out to a 5-1 lead before a Mays 3-pointer at the 16:09 mark gave the Penguins their first lead at 8-6. Mays' trey started a a 12-3 run for YSU that ended with another 3-pointer from Vytas Sulskis, which put the Guins up 17-9 with 13:07 remaining.
High Point began to chip away and eventually reclaimed the lead at 23-22 when Daniels hit two free throws with 5:57 remaining. Martin scored the next four points to put YSU up by three, and the Penguins stayed ahead until Daniels hit a layup with just under two minutes remaining in the half. Martin scored YSU's final four points of the half to counter two Corey Law free throws.
Martin was 7-for-9 from the field in the opening half, but the rest of the Penguins were a combined 5-for-17. Barbour had nine points to lead High Point, and Daniels had seven rebounds to go with his six points. The Panthers outrebounded the Penguins 19-12 in the first period.
Youngstown State will take a break for Christmas and return to host Robert Morris on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 7:05 p.m.
