Box Score
Cleveland, Ohio -- Youngstown State led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but Cleveland State shot 67.7 percent after halftime to come away with an 81-74 win over the Penguins on Sunday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.
The Penguins fall to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Horizon League while the Vikings improve to 4-3 overall and 4-0 in the league.
Senior Garrett Covington scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Penguins while freshman Alex Vargo scored a career-high 14 points with four 3-pointers. Senior Naz Bohannon scored 13 points with seven rebounds and five assists and freshman Shemar Rathan-Mayes added 11 points.
Tre Gomillion scored a team-high 23 points to lead the Vikings while Torrey Patton has 19, all in the second half, and D'Moi Hodge had 14.
The Penguins led by as many as 14 points, 46-32, early in the second half after Covington buried two 3-pointers to start the second stanza.
After the Vikings chipped the lead down to five, 50-45, Rathan-Mayes and Will Dunn each hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend the YSU advantage to 56-47 with 14:30 remaining.
Over the next six minutes, the Vikings outscored Penguins 13-4 and held YSU to just one field goal made and knotted the game at 60-60 at the 8:35 mark. The Vikings took their first lead of the game, 62-60, with 7:56 left on a bucket by Gomillion.
A basket by Bohannon and two free throws by Rathan-Mayes gave the Penguins a 64-62 lead and Vargo's fourth 3-pointer of the game put YSU up 67-65 with just under five minute left.
Bohannon's basket at the 2:38 mark tied the game at 70-70, but the Vikings scored 11 of the last 15 points of the game.
In the first half, the Penguins shot 51.7 percent from the floor, including making 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Covington led the Penguins with 13 first-half points while Vargo poured in 11.
The Penguins caught fire early on making their first four field-goals and nine of the first 12. YSU built a 12-point lead, 27-15, midway through the half and led by 11, 29-18 with nine minutes left.
The Vikings, though, used a 10-2 run to get within three, 31-28, and got as close as two, 32-30, with 3:11 left.
Three-pointers by Rathan-Mayes and Vargo's third of the half and a putback by Akuchie gave the Penguins an 8-0 run to close out the first half with a 40-30 lead.
YSU hosts Green Bay, Friday, Jan. 1. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
