Youngstown State University
7-4
Thiel
3-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thiel | 21 | 24 | 45 |
| Youngstown State | 35 | 35 | 70 |
Penguins Win For Sixth Time in Seven Games Beating Thiel, 70-45
12/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Youngstown State men's basketball team won for the sixth time in seven games beating Thiel 70-45 on Sunday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. Marcus Keene scored 21 points to lead the Penguins' effort.
YSU opened up a 35-21 halftime lead before outscoring the Tomcats 35-23 in the second half. Keene had 11 in the first half and 10 in the second to pace the Penguins.
With the victory, the Penguins improve to 7-4 while Thiel falls to 3-5.
Playing their 11th game of the season, the Guins rested most of the starters the final 10 minutes of the contest. No player exceeded 28 minutes of action against the Tomcats.
Bobby Hain finished with 15 points, Sidney Umude came off the bench to score 10 while DJ Cole had nine for the Penguins.
Keene was 6-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc and went 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. Hain was 4-of-7 from the field and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line.
A road-weary group shot 37.7 percent from the field making 20-of-53 attempts in the contest. However, the Guins made 24-of-35 shots from the free-throw line. Thiel was 18-of-58 from the field (31 percent) and missed 13 free throws.
YSU's biggest lead of the game was 58-30 which came at the 9:57 mark following an impressive dunk by Umude.
The game was knotted at 13 in the first half before a quick Guins flourish put them ahead 27-15. Hain started the run with a jumper before Keene followed with a 3-pointer and Cole capped the quick 7-0 run with a steal and layup conversion.
After Thiel broke up the run on a basket by Cetoute Clandell, YSU scored seven straight points again to build a 12-point lead. Following Clandell's basket, Cole knocked down a 3-pointer, made a pair of free throws and Amiker scored a bucket to put the Guins in front 27-15.
YSU's biggest lead of the first half was 16 points at 35-19 following a Keene basket. The Tomcats led by four on two occasions in the early going.
For the half, the Penguins shot 39.3 percent making 11-of-28 shots, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc. YSU was strong from the free-throw line making 9-of-12 attempts. Thiel shot 32.1 percent making 9-of-28 attempts. YSU had 21 rebounds to the Tomcats' 16 in the opening half.
YSU will be back in action on Saturday when it visits Texas A&M. Tipoff for the contest in College Station, Texas, is set for 5 p.m. Eastern time.
