Box Score
In the two schools' first ever meeting on the hardwood, the Youngstown State men's basketball team outlasted the sharp-shooting Tommies of St. Thomas (Minn.) in the Penguins' 2021-22 home opener from Beeghly Center on Friday, 79-75.
Michael Akuchie was one of three Penguins to score double figures, tying a game-high 20 points scored - just two shy of his season-best 22 points scored on Nov. 10 at Penn State. Akuchie added eight rebounds and three assists across 34 minutes of play.
Myles Hunter was the Penguins' second-leading scoring finishing with 14 points and six rebounds off the bench. Tevin Olison finished with 12 points along with five assists and added a game-high four blocks. Luke Chicone and Dwayne Cohill recorded eight points apiece, Shemar Rathan-Mayes contributed seven.
After finding itself in a four-point deficit at halftime, YSU outscored St. Thomas 47-39 in the second half to improve to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 at Beeghly Center. The Penguins sank 20-of-29 (69.0 percent) second-half shots, including 5-11 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc during the 20-minute run.
In a back-and-fourth contest for much of the first half, the Tommies jumped out to an eight-point lead and what would be their largest advantage of the game at the 3:41 mark after St. Thomas turned a Penguins' turnover into a transition three-point bucket. Akuchie scored nine of his 11 first half points over the final 5:25 to play to take YSU into the halftime locker room down just four points.
Following a Tommies' layup in their first possession of the second half, the Penguins strung together six-unanswered points to even the scoreboard at 38. A cross-over and driving layup from Cohill gave the Penguins the 40-38 lead, something YSU hadn't seen since the 14:22 mark of the first half.
With YSU down 54-52 with 9:23 remaining in the contest following a St. Thomas made free throw, Ogoro, assisted by Hunter, knocked down a three in the corner to put the Penguins back on top 55-54 – a lead they wouldn't give up.
In the final nine minutes of play, YSU would go on to build a six-point lead on three separate scoring runs with 5:10, 3:28 and 2:55 remaining. After the under-four media timeout with 3:53 on the clock, St. Thomas brought the deficit to within a made basket on five occasions, but couldn't capitalize.
YSU outscored St. Thomas 42-16 in the paint, while forcing eight Tommies' turnovers. The Penguins made 5-of-8 from the charity stripe (62.5 percent) and were 33-of-60 (55.0 percent) from the field, overall. St. Thomas had two players who reached double figures. The Tommies shot 40.0 percent from the field, bucketing 26-of-65 attempts, including an astounding 17-of-34 from three-point range. St. Thomas made nine three-pointers in the second half, going 9-of-16 (56.3 percent).
The Penguins are back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m., playing in game three of The YSU/J. Arnold Wealth Management Company Basketball Tournament from the Beeghly Center. YSU will take on Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
