Box Score
The Youngstown State men's basketball team had five players reach double figures and led by at least 20 for the final 19 minutes in an 83-54 victory over Westminster on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins extended their winning streak to five straight games, and they are off to their best start through 10 games since the 2013-14 season with a 7-3 record.
Chris Shelton made four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench, and Luke Chicone also scored 10 points and had a game-best six assists outside of the starting five. Among the starting group, Shemar Rathan-Mayes and Dwayne Cohill had a dozen points, and Tevin Olison contributed 11.
Daniel Ritter had 13 points, and Josh Hutcherson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Titans.
Youngstown State shot 41.2 percent from the field and made eight 3-pointers in 24 attempts. The Penguins held Westminster to 29.6 percent from the field and converted 17 Titan turnovers into 16 points. YSU also held scoring advantages of 36-22 in the paint, 17-12 from offensive rebounds, 19-4 in transition and 43-17 from the bench.
The Penguins had a perfect shooting effort in the first four minutes as they were 3-for-3 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Rathan-Mayes 3-pointer at the 16:14 mark put YSU ahead 13-4, but the Penguins made just three of its next 18 attempts from the floor. Westminster was never able to get into high gear offensively and only closed the gap to seven during that stretch. Shelton made two 3s during the 3-for-18 sputter, and his third 3-pointer of the half came at the 2:05 mark as the Penguins went into halftime on a 12-3 run.
Youngstown State led 38-19 at halftime, and it scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to extend its advantage to 47-21 at the 16:23 mark. Rathan-Mayes had five straight points during that run on a 3-pointer and a breakaway layup from a steal. After the lead reached 26 on the Rathan-Mayes bucket, it was at least 21 the rest of the way.
The margin reached 30 for the first time at 58-28 when Shelton made two free throws with 10:56 remaining, and the largest difference was 31 at 78-47 when Daniel Ogoro hit a 3-pointer with 2:56 left. The margin was 31 two other times at 81-50 and 83-52.
Youngstown State will conclude its non-league schedule on Wednesday at West Virginia. Tipoff against the Mountaineers is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
