The Youngstown State men's basketball team was engaged in a six-point battle with seven minutes remaining at Penn State, but the Penguins got cold from the field and lost 75-59 to the Nittany Lions on Wednesday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Michael Akuchie scored 11 points in a four-minute stretch to help the Penguins trim a 16-point deficit to just 57-51 with 7:46 remaining. YSU, though, went five-and-a-half minutes until its next field goal as Penn State built its lead to an insurmountable 71-53.

Akuchie scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the final 15 minutes, and he was 6-for-12 overall and 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the second half. The fifth-year senior added 10 rebounds to collect a double-double. Garrett Covington scored nine of his 11 points in the first half, and Shemar Rathan-Mayes added 10 points.

Seth Lundy scored a game-high 23 points, and Sam Sessoms had 17 points and eight assists to lead Penn State.

The Penguins had a similar shooting drought in the first half as they made two of their final 14 attempts from the field after holding a 21-17 lead.

After Penn State scored the first five points of the game, Covington scored the next five points as part of a 9-2 run that gave the Penguins their first lead at 9-7 four minutes into the game. The margin was within a possession until Youngstown State took a 21-17 advantage with just under 11 minutes remaining following another 9-2 run.

However, after Chris Shelton's 3-pointer gave the Penguins their four-point lead, YSU managed just five points the rest of the half. Shelton's basket gave YSU seven straight makes, but the Penguins were 2-for-14 the rest of the half.

The Nittany Lions scored the next nine points as part of a 16-2 run over an eight-minute stretch that gave them a 33-23 lead. Rathan-Mayes hit a 3 at the 1:45 mark to get the margin down to seven, and Penn State hit two free throws in the final minute to make the score 35-26 at the break.

Penn State had eight offensive rebounds in the first half, which it converted into a 10-0 edge in second-chance points. The Nittany Lions made two more field goals and had a 6-1 advantage at the free-throw line.

The Nittany Lions then made four of their first five attempts in the second half to open up a 45-30 lead. After that initial burst when Penn State scored 10 points in the first 3:10 of the second half, the Penguins held them to three points over the next four-plus minutes to stay within striking distance.

Shelton hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 49-second span to make the score 50-40 at the 12:05 mark, and Akuchie later scored five straight points to bring the Penguins back within single digits at 53-45 with 10:39 left.

Akuchie stayed hot and ended up scoring 11 points in a four-minute stretch to key the Penguins' comeback bid. His third 3 of the half got YSU within 57-51 at the 7:46 mark, and two Covington free throws with 7:12 remaining made the score 59-53.

After those free throws by Covington, Penn State scored 12 straight points to take a 71-53 lead with 2:39 remaining. Akuchie broke YSU's scoring drought of nearly five minutes with a 3-pointer to make the score 71-56 with 2:19 left, and Rathan-Mayes hit a free throw and a jumper in the final two minutes for YSU's final points.

Youngstown State shot 39.3 percent for the game, and it went 10-for-24 from 3-point range for 41.7 percent. Penn State shot 51.7 percent overall, including 64.3 percent in the second half. The Nittany Lions finished with a 43-25 edge in rebounding and a 12-2 advantage in second-chance points.

Youngstown State will play at SEMO on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in its final road game of the month. The game against the Redhawks will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.