Youngstown State University
5-6
Kent State
9-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youngstown State | 33 | 25 | 58 |
| Kent State | 30 | 41 | 71 |
Men's Basketball Comes Up Short in 71-58 Loss at Kent State
12/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Kent, Ohio – Senior Vytas Sulskis scored 22 points and once again the YSU men's basketball team led for nearly 30 minutes, however Kent State caught fire in the final 12 minutes to hand the Penguins a 71-58 defeat at the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday night.
It was the fifth time this season that Sulskis finished with 20-plus points in a contest. Kendrick Perry had 13 points and five assists to reach double figures as well for YSU.
With the loss, Youngstown State falls to 5-6 on the season while Kent State improves to 9-3.
The Penguins never trailed for the first 30-plus minutes and had their biggest lead of the second half at 48-42 following a 3-pointer by Perry at the 12:15 mark.
Kent State answered on consecutive 3-pointers by Michael Porrini and Randal Holt tying the game at 48 with 10:10 left. It marked just the second tie of the game and first since it was 2-2.
The Golden Flashes kept their run going taking their first lead of the night on a 12-footer by Justin Greene.
The Penguins tied the contest at 50 on two Tre Brewer free throws with 8:44 to go. Kent State scored four straight points before Perry answered with another trey cutting the deficit to one.
KSU drained two more 3-pointers in succession to grab a 60-53 advantage 5:18 left and scored four more to lead 64-53.
From the time YSU led 48-42 at 12:15 until KSU led 64-53 with 4:05 remaining, the Golden Flashes went on a 22-5 run to snatch control of the game.
In the second half, Kent State outscored the Guins 41-25.
YSU opened the game with a hot hand to build a 17-5 lead. Helping pave the way to the 12-point advantage was Sulskis who scored 10 points during the early run.
The Guins missed only one of their first eight field-goal attempts and drained their first three shots from 3-point range. However, after making seven of their first eight, YSU made five of its final 22 attempts.
With the contest 6-3, Ashen Ward and Sulskis drained back-to-back 3-pointers putting the Penguins on top 12-3 just three-and-a-half minutes into the game. Following a Kent State basket, Sulskis scored the next five points giving the Guins a 12-point bulge at 17-5 with 14:54 left in the half.
YSU missed six straight shots as the Golden Flashes scored the next nine points to pull within 17-14 in just under three minutes. Devonte Maymon's layup stopped the drought at 10:34 to put the Guins ahead 19-14.
Kendrick Perry's first points of the night, a 3-pointer, built the lead back to eight with 9:53 left in the half.
The Golden Flashes crept back to 28-24, but Maymon drained a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired pushing the advantage back to seven with 3:51 left.
However in the final 3:51 of the half, the Guins were outscored 9-2 and Kent State was able to drain its lone 3-pointer of the half with five seconds left as Darius Leonard found the mark.
Sulskis had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the opening half. He was the only player for either team to score in double figures in the first 20 minutes.
YSU led in field goals made (13-2), 3-pointers made (5-1), rebounds (21-18), assists (9-6) and blocks (3-1). The Penguins made 13-of-30 from the field (43.3 percent) while KSU was 12-of-31 (38.7 percent).
The Penguins return to the court on Dec. 30 when they play host to UIC at the Beeghly Center. Tipoff for the contest is set for 7:05 p.m.
