The Youngstown State men's basketball team went on a 24-5 run to start the second half and got 26 points from Dwayne Cohill in an 85-81 victory over Southern on Friday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins trailed the Jaguars 42-35 at halftime, but they outscored the visitors from the SWAC by 11 in the second half to improve their record to 8-4. Southern dropped to 4-7 with the loss.
Southern shot 56.3% from the field and had just four turnovers in the first half as it built its seven-point cushion. As the Penguins went on their run, the Jaguars were 2-for-10 from the field and had eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Cohill's 26 points came on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, and he was joined in double figures by Malek Green's 16 points, Brandon Rush's 14 points and Adrian Nelson's 10 points. Nelson added a game-high 10 rebounds to record his sixth double-double of the campaign.
P.J. Byrd and Bryson Etienne paced Southern with 16 points apiece.
Youngstown State shot 55.6% from the field in the second half, and it attempted just four 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes. Southern shot 38.7% and had 10 turnovers in the second half.
The Penguins led for just 2:49 of the first half, and Southern's 42-35 halftime lead was the largest margin of the first 20 minutes.
YSU scored the first four points of the evening on baskets by Nelson and Green, and the Penguins held a 10-9 lead when Green made a free throw at the 14:55 mark. The Jaguars scored seven of the next nine points to go up 16-12, and they held the upper hand until YSU went on a seven-point burst behind a Brandon Rush 3 and two Green baskets to take a 25-23 advantage at the 7:08 mark. That was YSU's final lead of the half.
A Cohill 3-pointer with 1:11 on the clock put him in double figures with 12 points and tied the game at 35, but Southern scored the final seven points of the half. Etienne started the spurt with a 3-pointer with just under a minute left, and Terrell Williams Jr. followed with a steal and dunk to give the Jaguars a 40-35 lead. P.J. Byrd hit a jumper on the final possession of the half to extend the lead to seven.
Southern was 18-for-32 overall from the field and 6-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half. Youngstown State was 13-for-27 overall and 4-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Bryson Etienne had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Terrell Williams Jr. had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting. Cohill led the Penguins with 12 points at halftime, and Green and Rush combined for 17 of the remaining 23 points.
The Penguins took their first lead of the second half on a Rush layup at the 16:47 mark as they scored the first eight points out of the locker room. Williams Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 16:10 on the clock to put Southern on top 45-43, and the Jaguars' final lead was 47-45 with 13:40 left.
Rush tied the game at 47 with a jumper on YSU's net possession, and a Cohill steal led to two free throws at the 12:56 mark to put YSU up 49-47. Cohill's dunk at the 11:48 mark extended the margin to 53-47, and his 3-pointer with 10:14 remaining extended the difference to 59-47. Cohill had 10 points in the half and 22 for the game after that triple.
The Penguins' largest lead was 67-54 when Shemar Rathan-Mayes scored in transition at the 5:26 mark. YSU's advantage was 81-69 after a Myles Hunter layup with 30 seconds left, but Southern made two 3-pointers and had two additional three-point plays to cut the margin down to four for the final. Byrd hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to make the score 85-81, and Southern forced a turnover with five seconds remaining to get another possession. Byrd missed on the ensuing possession to end the comeback attempt.
Youngstown State will conclude its non-conference slate at Central Michigan on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
