Youngstown State University
7-5,0-0Horizon
Binghamton
5-6,0-0America East
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binghamton | 22 | 33 | 55 |
| Youngstown St. | 39 | 34 | 73 |
Defensive Effort Leads Men's Basketball to 73-55 Win Over Binghamton
12/18/2019 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Youngstown State men's basketball team limited Binghamton to a 36.8 field-goal percentage and 17.8 percent from the 3-point line en route to a 73-55 win over the Bearcats on Wednesday night at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins, who are 6-0 at home for the first time since 2010-11, improve to 7-5 overall while the Bearcats fall to 5-6 overall.
Junior Naz Bohannon tied a career-high with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists while junior Michael Akuchie added 10 points and eight rebounds. Bohannon also became the 15th player in school history to reach 600 career rebounds.
Leading Binghamton was Pierre Sarr with 20 points while George Tinsley had 13 points. Impressively, the Penguins held the Bearcats' leading scorer Sam Sesseoms to just seven points, more than 13 points below his season average.
Youngstown State built its lead to as many as 22 points, 51-29, after a fast-break 3-pointer by Donel Cathcart III at the 17 minute mark. Over the next nine minutes, the Bearcats trimmed the deficit to 12, 59-47 after a 17-7 run.
Jelani Simmons' dunk at the 2:54 mark put the Penguins back up by 15, 70-55, and the Bearcats would not score again.
YSU closed out the first half on an impressive 22-6 run that turned a one-point game into a 39-22 lead at halftime.
At the 10:37 mark of the half, the Penguins clung to a 17-16 lead. Devin Morgan knocked down a 3-pointer extending the lead to 20-16. Binghamton answered on 3-pointer by Sessoms. Bohannon scored on put back and Akuchie followed with a 3-pointer to push the advantage to 25-18. A bucket by Sarr stopped the mini run before Bohannon, Covington and Tyler Foster added buckets to put the Guins on top 33-20.
After the Bearcats trimmed the deficit to 33-22, Foster knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner and Quisenberry made a free throw to give the Guins a 16-point advantage at the break.
In the opening half, YSU made five 3-pointers and were led by Akuchie's 10 points and six rebounds. The Penguins shot 45.7 percent from the field making 16-of-35 attempts. YSU's defense held Binghamton to just 37 percent shooting on 10-of-27.
The Penguins play host to 25th-ranked West Virginia this coming Saturday in downtown Youngstown at the Covelli Centre. Tipoff for the contest is set for 1 p.m. Tickets for the contest are available by calling (330) 941-1YSU.
