Dayton, Ohio – Senior Dwayne Cohill scored a career-high 43 points to lead the Youngstown State men's basketball team to an 88-77 road victory at Wright State on Sunday afternoon at the Nutter Center.
Cohill became the first Youngstown State player to score at least 40 points since 2020, and his 43 points are the most since Cameron Morse scored 44 against UIC in 2017. It is also the fifth-most points in a single game in Youngstown State's Division I era.
Graduate Malek Green just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds while senior Bryce McBride added 12 points with four steals off the bench.
Youngstown State improves to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the Horizon League while Wright State falls to 5-4 overall and 0-2 in the league.
Cohill connected on 16-of-19 from the field, including a career-high six 3-pointers, and went 11-for-11 from the floor and scored 30 points in the second half.
Green also turned in a strong second half performance with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and seven boards after halftime.
The Penguins, who shot 60.7 percent after the intermission, trailed by as many as seven, 45-38, in the second half but scored eight of the next 10 points to get within one, 47-46, at the 14:14 mark. Green began the run with a 3-pointer and Cohill scored the next five points with a 3-poitner and a jumper.
Wright State extended its lead to 56-51, but a jumper by Green, two free throws by McBride and a 3-pointer by Cohill gave the Penguins a 58-56 lead at the 9:20 mark.
After the Raiders knotted the game at 60-60 with 8:11 to go, Youngstown State went on a 10-0 run over the next 1:31 to take a 70-60 advantage. Brandon Rush began the run with a 3-pointer before a three-point play by Cohill put the YSU lead to six points. McBride cashed in four straight free throws to give the Penguins the 10-point lead at the 6:40 mark.
Wright State cut the Penguins lead down to six points four times before the Penguins boosted their lead to a game-high 12 points with 34 seconds remaining.
In the first half, the Penguins led for more than nine minutes as the teams battled through seven ties and four lead changes.
Youngstown State built a 26-17 lead with just over seven minutes left before the Raiders used a 9-0 run to tie the game at 26-26 at the 4:02 mark.
YSU gained a 30-28 lead on Cohill jumper but the Raiders scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 36-32 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.
Youngstown State returns home for the first time since Nov. 15 to host Westminster, Thursday, Dec. 8. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
