Box Score
Highland Heights, Ky. -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale to Northern Kentucky, 75-61, on Saturday night at BB&T Arena.
The Penguins fall to 18-13 overall and 12-9 in Horizon League play while the Norse improve to 18-11 overall and 14-6 in league play.
Senior Tevin Olison led three players scoring in double figures with 16 points while sophomores William Dunn and Myles Hunter posted 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Marques Warrick led the Norse with 22 points and Sam Vinson poured in 14 points, Trevon Faulkner had 12 and Bryson Langdon added 10 points.
Northern Kentucky made nine 3-pointers in the first half and 12 for the game, and shot 50.8 percent from the field. The Penguins connected on nine 3-pointers but could not keep up with the hot-shooting Norse.
The first half saw five lead changes and three ties before the Norse took the lead for good.
Northern Kentucky took 16-9 lead just over five minutes into the game but the Penguins used a 10-2 run to grab a 19-18 edge with 11:24 left before halftime. Hunter began the run with a jumper and was followed by back-to-back 3-pointers by Olison and Dwayne Cohill that cut the lead to one, 18-17. Another jumper by Hunter gave the Penguins a the one-point advantage.
The Norse regained the lead, 24-19, before 3-pointers by Shemar Rathan-Mayes and Hunter and another jumper by Hunter gave the Penguins their final lead, 27-24, at the 7:47 mark.
The game was tied three more times in the first half, including 34-34 with 3:51 to go after an Olison basket. The Norse then scored seven straight points over the next two minutes to take a 41-34 lead, and owned a 43-35 edge at the intermission.
The Norse quickly built their lead to double figures within the first five minutes of the second half and led by as many as 17.
The Penguins will host a first round game in the 2022 Keeps Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship, Tuesday, March 1. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.
