Box Score
Sophomore Garrett Covington scored a career-high 21 points and led five other players scoring in double figures as the Youngstown State men's basketball team knocked off Heidelberg, 106-83, on Monday evening at the Beeghly Center.
The Penguins improve to 1-2 while Heidelberg falls to 0-1.
Freshman Darius Quisenberry scored a career-high 16 points, including nine from the free-throw line, and had five rebounds. Freshman Olamide Pedersen recorded his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Jelani Simmons had 14 points and five rebounds, junior Devin Morgan posted 13 points with five assits and junior Donel Cathcart III added 12 points.
Leading Heidelberg, which made 14 3-pointers, was Myron Prewitt with a game-high 24 points, including three 3s while Phariz Watkins and Alex Arellano each posted 11 points. Eight different players made at least one 3-pointer for Heidelberg.
In the first half, Youngstown State led by 13, 17-4, within the first six minutes of the game only to see Heidelberg close the game to three, 23-20, thanks to a 16-6 run midway through the half. The Penguins bolted their lead to 18, 42-24, at the 5:48 mark, but Heidelberg clawed its way back to an eight-point deficit, 47-39 at halftime.
Heidelberg got off to a hot start in the second half, hitting three 3-pointers and outscoring the Penguins, 15-9, in the first five minutes to trim YSU's lead to two, 56-54, at the 15:33 mark.
Over the next five minutes, the Penguins used a 22-5 run to take a 19-point lead, 78-59, with 10:04 left capped by a 3-pointer by Morgan. Kendale Hampton's layup with 9:09 left gave YSU an 82-62 lead and the Penguins never trailed by less than 15 the rest of the way.
A Simmons dunk with at the 3:05 mark gave the Penguins a game-high 27 point lead, 103-76.
Youngstown State shot 49.3 percent from the field, including 51.4 percent in the second half, and out-rebounded Heidelberg, 52-34.
The Penguins head to the Big Apple for three games in three days at the Johnny Bach Classic hosted by Fordham, Nov. 16-18. YSU opens the Classic against Columbia, Friday, at 8:30 p.m.
