Youngstown, Ohio -- Dwayne Cohill scored 23 points in the second half, and the Youngstown State men's basketball team rewarded more than 3,800 Penguins fans in attendance and many more watching across the country on ESPN2 with a 77-73 victory over Oakland on Friday evening at Beeghly Center.

Cohill hit five second-half 3-pointers to help hold off several Oakland runs, and he finished with 25 points on 14 field-goal attempts. Brandon Rush scored all 12 of his points in the first half, Adrian Nelson scored 11 points, and Malek Green scored 10.

Youngstown State won for the sixth time in the last seven games and improved to 16-6 overall and 8-3 in Horizon League play. The Penguins were playing their first game on a linear ESPN network in Beeghly Center since Jan. 22, 2010.

Youngstown State led for more than 31 minutes, and it did not trail in the second half. The game featured eight lead changes and 10 ties, and the Penguins made one final run to close out the victory when Oakland knotted the game for the final time at 63 with 6:44 on the clock.

With the game in the balance, Cohill hit two 3-pointers during an 11-2 run that gave the Penguins their largest lead of the night at 74-65 with 2:28 on the clock. Oakland kept battling and had a shot to tie the game with the score 73-70 in the final 10 seconds, but Jalen Moore's 3-pointer was off the mark. Green made the front end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line with eight seconds left to make the lead two possessions and account for the final score of the night at 77-73.

Youngstown State shot 57.7% from the field in the second half and went 7-for-12 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes. Oakland shot 52% and went 12-for-24 from 3-point range. YSU held a 12-9 edge at the free-throw line, and YSU had 16 second-chance points. Thirteen of those came from offensive rebounds in the first half as YSU held a 38-37 lead at the break.

Moore finished with a game-high 27 points, 19 of which came in the second half.

The Penguins led for more than 12 minutes in the first half, and they went on an 8-3 run to take a 10-6 lead at the 16:13 mark. That was the largest margin for either team over the first 11 minutes of the game.

Oakland scored five straight points out of the media timeout to take an 11-10 advantage, and the margin was within a possession until the Penguins matched their four-point lead at 21-17 when Rush hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.

Those triples were part of a 14-6 run for Youngstown State that gave it a 29-21 lead with 6:59 on the clock. Myles Hunter hit back-to-back jumpers, Cohill had a steal and score, and Rush made two free throws during that burst.

Oakland weathered the storm and went on its own run by scoring 12 of the next 14 points to take a 33-31 lead when Moore converted a four-point play with 4:00 remaining. The Penguins tied the score three times before taking the lead at 38-37 on a three-point play by Green with 1:20 left in the half. That was the eighth lead change of the opening half.

Oakland shot 51.9% from the field in the half and made seven of its 10 attempts from beyond the arc. The Penguins were 13-for-27 from the field despite going 2-for-10 on 3-point attempts, and they were 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. YSU converted six offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points in the half.

Cohill started his second-half barrage by scoring seven points in the first three minutes, and his 3-pointer at the 17:14 mark gave the Penguins a 47-39 lead to match their largest margin. Oakland scored eight straight points to tie the score at 47-47, but the Golden Grizzlies were never able to reclaim the lead.

Cohill hit two 3-pointers during an 8-0 run that put YSU ahead 57-49, and that gave the Penguins' senior guard 15 points in the first 9:15 of the second half. Youngstown State led by eight again at 60-52 on a 3-pointer by Bryce McBride, but Oakland went on an 11-3 run to tie the game for the 10th time of the night at 63.

Green split a pair of free throws with 6:29 on the clock to spark a six-point run for the Penguins that they extended into an 11-2 run. Nelson moved into double figures with a basket that made the score 71-65, and Cohill's fifth 3-pointer of the half gave Youngstown State its largest lead of the night at 74-65.

Oakland scored the next five points to pull back within four, and Cohill drained a pull-up jumper late in the shot clock to extend the margin back to six at 76-70 with 1:01 left. Rocket Watts made three free throws with 43.5 seconds left to cut the margin to one possession and set up the final sequence.

Youngstown State will try to sweep the homestand as it hosts Detroit Mercy on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 570 WKBN.