Box Score
The Youngstown State men's basketball team built a 20-point lead in the first eight minutes and cruised to a 96-56 victory over Defiance College on Wednesday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins led by double digits for the final 36-and-a-half minutes, and the margin was at least 20 for the final 32:23.
The game came in short order as YSU's game at Detroit Mercy scheduled for Thursday was canceled. The conference game was declared a no contest by the Horizon League on Wednesday following positive COVID-19 tests among the Titans' tier 1 individuals. The game against the Yellow Jackets didn't come to fruition until late Tuesday.
All 12 Penguins who played scored at least four points, and four players reached double figures. William Dunn had 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting while adding nine rebounds, and Myles Hunter had a dozen points. Michael Akuchie had 11 points and 10 rebounds in less than 13 minutes, and Jacori Owens had 10 points.
Defiance's Dejsani Beamon led all scorers with 16 points, and Marell Jordan finished with 10.
Youngstown State shot 70.4 percent in the second half and 60 percent overall for the game. YSU was 39-for-65 from the field and 7-for-16 from beyond the 3-point arc. Defiance shot 38.1 percent overall, and it made seven 3-pointers in the second half.
Youngstown State took its first double-digit lead of the game at 13-2 on a dunk by Akuchie at the 16:31 mark of the first half, and the margin was 16-2 at the first media timeout as Daniel Ogoro followed the dunk with a 3-pointer. The Penguins were 6-for-8 from the field at that point.
The first 20-point difference came when Owen Long made the score 26-6 at the 12:22 mark, and Luke Chicone scored 20 seconds later to become the ninth different Penguin to get on the scoreboard in the first eight minutes of the contest. Tevin Olison's 3-pointer with 3:07 on the first-half clock gave YSU its first 30-point advantage at 44-14, and the Penguins led 49-21 at halftime.
Akuchie scored YSU's first seven points of the second half to get his total to double digits, and Shemar Rathan-Mayes nailed a 3 at the 16:26 mark to become the 12th different Penguin to score. The triple made the score 59-26, and the difference reached 40 at 71-30 for the first time when Chris Shelton hit a 3 two minutes later. The margin was at least 40 for all but 1:40 the rest of the way. The largest lead of the night came on a layup by Dunn at the 8:58 mark, which put the Penguins ahead 77-32.
YSU returns to Horizon League play on Saturday when it is scheduled to take on Oakland. Tipoff at the O'Rena is set for 3 p.m. The Golden Grizzlies are in action on Thursday against Robert Morris.
