Rochester, Mich. – Four players scored in double figures, but the Youngstown State men's basketball team fell to Oakland, 70-67, on Wednesday evening at the OU Credit Union O'Rena.
Ziggy Reid led the Penguins with 17 points while DJ Burns posted his ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Penguins, who fall to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Horizon League. Oakland has won six straight games and improves to 12-8 overall and 7-2 in league play.
Bryson Langdon scored 11 points while Brett Thompson added 10 points with five assists. Gabe Dynes broke the YSU freshman single-season blocks record of 39 with three and now has at 42 on the season.
The Penguins scored the first 13 points of the game sparked by five points Burns and four by Reid.
Youngstown State held a 22-12 lead with 5:46 to go before halftime after a pair of free throws by Reid, but the Golden Grizzlies scored the next eight points and 14 of the next 18 to tie the game at 26-26 with 1:44 to go.
A 3-pointer by Thompson and a layup by Dynes pushed the YSU lead back to five, 31-26, before a basket by Oakland's Trey Townsend trimmed the advantage to three with five seconds left.
Oakland tied the game at 31-31 and 33-33 early in the second half before the Penguins pushed their lead back to six, 46-40, keyed by two 3-pointers by Reid.
The Golden Grizzlies used a 12-0 run over a four-minute span to take 52-46 lead at the 10:55 mark.
After a free throw from Dynes and a basket by John Lovelace, Jr., senior Brandon Rush nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 with 9:38 to go.
A 3-pointer by Blake Lampman at the 8:07 mark regained a three-point lead for the Golden Grizzlies. Over the next seven-plus minutes, Youngstown State cut the lead down to one five different times.
A turnover with 21 seconds remaining led to a layup by Oakland's Rocket Watts to give the Golden Grizzlies a 70-67 lead. The Penguins last-second 3-point attempt to tie was off.
Youngstown State visits Detroit Mercyon Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Calihan Hall.
