Youngstown State University
0-0
Samford
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| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samford | 24 | 37 | 61 |
| Youngstown State | 23 | 41 | 64 |
Seven Second-Half Treys Lift Men's Hoops to 64-61 Win Over Samford
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Youngstown -- Junior DuShawn Brooks scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, and the Youngstown State men's basketball team held on to defeat Samford 64-61 on Friday in the season opener for both teams.
Brooks and fellow newcomer Devonte Maymon, who scored 13 points in the second half, helped the Penguins recover from a subpar first-half shooting effort. YSU hit 7-of-16 triples in the second half, led by a combined 6-for-10 showing by Brooks and Maymon. YSU hit 2-of-17 from behind the arc in the first half.
Jeffrey Merritt had 19 points, making 8-of-9 from the field, and 11 rebounds to lead the Samford.
Vytas Sulskis added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Youngstown State.
Samford held a 24-23 lead at halftime, but YSU scored the first five points of the second half and never trailed again. Sulskis hit a jumper on YSU's first possession, and Maymon hit a 3-pointer on the next trip down to floor to make the score 28-24.
Samford tied the score at 34-34 on a Gregg Wooten charity toss, but YSU scored the next six points on 3-pointers from Kendrick Perry and Brooks. The Guins led by as many as 10 at 56-46 when Brooks hit another trey with 5:03 remaining. Samford scored the next nine points and had a free throw chance to tie, but Merritt's attempt was off the mark with 2:57 left.
YSU worked its lead up to 61-55 after another Brooks trey, but Samford scored the next five points to make things tense in the final 15 seconds. Josh Davis hit a bucket to start the Samford run, and Merritt hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to make the score 61-60.
Sulskis hit two free throws on YSU's end, and the Penguins elected to foul to prevent a 3-point attempt. Wooten split the pair for Samford, and Perry also made one free throw for YSU to make the score 64-61 with six seconds left. YSU fouled again on Samford's next possession, and Wooten missed his first attempt. He intentionally missed the second, and Josh Davis missed a 3-point attempt as time expired after Wooten tapped out the rebound.
Samford outshot Youngstown State 50 percent to 36.7 percent, but the Bulldogs made six fewer 3-pointers. The Bulldogs held a 38-18 edge in the paint.
In the first half, YSU missed its first nine attempts from 3-point range before Sheldon Brogdon's triple at the 10:13 mark gave the Guins a 13-10 advantage. Sulskis hit a bucket on YSU's next trip down the floor to make the score 15-10 with 9:31 remaining, but the Penguins were held scoreless for the next seven minutes.
Blake Allen's triple with 2:27 remaining stopped an 11-0 run, and an old-fashioned three-point play by Sulskis tied the score at 21-21 with just under two minutes left before half. Merritt hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs back up, and Brooks cut the margin to one with a bucket on YSU's next possession.
YSU was 10-for-33 overall in the first half, attempting 10 more field goals than Samford.
Youngstown State will host Buffalo on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.
