Youngstown State University
6-5
South Fla.
6-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| YSU | 33 | 21 | 54 |
| USF | 33 | 39 | 72 |
Men's Basketball Falls to USF, 72-54
12/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Tampa, Fla. -- Kendrick Perry scored a team high 15 points but the Youngstown State men's basketball team dropped a 72-54 to South Florida on Tuesday night at the Sun Dome.
The Penguins fall to 6-5 overall and South Florida improves to 6-3.
Freshman Bobby Hain also reached double figures for the Penguins with 11 points.
In a game that saw 12 lead changes and four ties, Youngstown State went toe-to-toe with the Bulls from the Big East Conference for 32 minutes, and led by six points, 45-39, with 15 minutes left in the game. The Penguins went 5-of-8 to start the second half, but made just three more field goals the rest of the game.
USF, though, scored seven straight points to take a 46-45 lead, but DJ Cole's layup at the 12:03 mark gave the Penguins their final lead of the game, 47-46.
Youngstown State trailed by just two points, 53-51, after a Hain jumper with 9:46 to go. Hain's basket was the last field goal the Penguins would make in the game.
The Bulls then outscored the Penguins 16-1 over the next five-and-a-half minutes to take an insurmountable 17 point lead, 69-52, with 4:12 left.
During the USF run, the Penguins committed four fouls and four turnovers.
The Penguins began the game missing their first six shots and fell behind 7-0 and 11-5 in the first five minutes of the game.
Three straight 3-pointers by Hain, Cole and Perry gave the Penguins their first lead of the game, 14-11, with 12:31 remaining.
After another tie and four more lead changes, USF extended its lead to six, 24-18, before the Penguins used an 11-3 lead to regain the lead, 31-27 at the 3:29 mark. After a layup by Cole, Perry scored nine straight YSU points on three consecutive 3-pointers and Hain made a layup to cap the Penguins' run.
USF scored the next six points before Perry's hanging jumper just before the buzzer knotted the game at 33-33 at the half.
The Penguins shot 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from behind the 3-point line before halftime, but made just one triple in the second half. For the game, Youngstown State shot just 32.8 percent from the field.
Youngstown State visits Bethune-Cookman, Friday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. in Daytona Beach, Fla.
