The Youngstown State men's basketball team flexed its muscles on both ends of the floor to beat Cleveland State 94-69 on Wednesday evening at the Beeghly Center in the Horizon League openers for both schools.
The Penguins trailed for less than 90 seconds, and their largest deficit was two as they controlled the game against their Northeast Ohio rivals nearly right from the tip. Youngstown State led by at least seven for the final 31:42 of the game, and the margin was double digits for the final 24 minutes and at least 17 for the entire second half.
John Lovelace, Jr. led all players with 23 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench, and seven other Penguins scored at least seven points. Lovelace, Jr. was 8-for-9 overall from the field, 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
Also for the Penguins, Brett Thompson scored 17 points, Bryson Langdon had 14, and Ziggy Reid finished with 10.
Youngstown State shot 51.6% from the field, and it converted 59.3% of its attempts in the final 20 minutes as it kept the Vikings at arm's length. Defensively, the Penguins held Cleveland State to 39.3% shooting, blocked seven shots and recorded eight steals. YSU's Gabe Dynes blocked four of those shots while scoring seven points in 16 minutes of action.
The Penguins scored first on a floating jump shot by Langdon 55 seconds into the contest, and the only times they trailed in the contest were at 3-2 and 7-5. Tae Williams scored on a driving layup for the Vikings at the 16:14 mark, and EJ Farmer, Dynes and Langdon followed with a 6-0 run for the Penguins to give them an 11-7 advantage. They did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the evening.
Lovelace, Jr. scored four points during an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 19-10, and his 3-pointer at the 9:09 mark gave YSU its first double-digit lead at 22-12.
The final time the margin was within single digits was at 28-19, and Brandon Rush's 3-pointer with four minutes on the first-half clock gave the Penguins a 31-19 advantage. Rush's second triple of the half extended the lead to 38-24, and YSU scored the final seven points to take a 42-24 lead into the locker room.
Langdon made two free throws on YSU's first possession of the second half to give the Penguins their first lead of 20 points, and 3-pointers by DJ Burns and Lovelace, Jr. started a 14-4 run midway through the session that extended the advantage to 71-44.
The Penguins' largest lead was 29 points at 77-48 on a three-point play by Lovelace, Jr. with 6:17 on the clock. Cleveland State went on a 15-3 run to close the gap to 80-63 with 4:20 left, but Youngstown State reestablished its authority by ending on a 14-6 burst for the final tally.
The Penguins will continue Horizon League play when they visit Robert Morris on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
