The Youngstown State men's basketball team built a big lead behind nine first-half 3-pointers and went on to defeat Ohio Christian University 99-71 on Monday evening at the Beeghly Center.
Brandon Rush made five 3s in the first half to help the Penguins build a 48-32 lead, and he made five more in the second half to finish one 3-pointer shy of Mike Alcorn's school record of 11 set against Pitt-Bradford on Feb. 24, 1992. The previous second-highest total was eight, which Quin Humphrey accomplished twice in 2007.
Rush finished with 32 points, making 10 3-pointers on 18 attempts and two free throws. He made 10 of his first 13 attempts from long distance. DJ Burns had 17 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double in his first game on Rosselli Court, and Imanuel Zorgvol scored 11 points off the bench.
It was the Penguins' first home game of the 2023-24 season, and YSU earned its first win of the campaign. Youngstown State's returning student-athletes and student managers earned their Horizon League regular-season championship rings before the contest.
Youngstown State shot 55.2% overall from the field, and it went 14-for-33 from 3-point range and 11-of-14 from the free-throw line. The Penguins had 26 assists on 37 field goals, and Bryson Langdon led the distribution with seven assists.
Levi Seiler had 22 points, and Jimmy Salamone scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Ohio Christian.
Rush made two 3s in the first 90 seconds of the game, and his third at the 15:38 mark gave the Penguins a 15-6 lead on the Trailblazers.
The visitors from the River States Conference in the NAIA competed and remained within five points on a Salamone free throw with 7:24 left on the first-half clock. Ziggy Reid, Langdon and Rush hit 3-pointers over the next two minutes as the scoring pace picked up, and Rush's fifth 3-pointer pushed YSU's lead to 46-32 with 1:08 left. Burns had a steal and converted two free throws in the final 10 seconds to up the advantage to 48-32 at halftime.
Reid made a layup less than a minute into the second half upped the margin to 20 for the first time at 52-32, and the Penguins led by at least 17 the rest of the evening.
Rush's 10th 3-pointer came with 8:36 remaining and put Youngstown State ahead 85-59. The fifth-year senior had five more attempts from beyond the arc to try and tie the school record, but he couldn't find the bottom of the net.
Youngstown State's largest lead was 29 points when Reid converted a three-point play to make the score 96-67 with 3:22 remaining.
Youngstown State will continue its three-game homestand by hosting Utah Tech on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
