Youngstown, Ohio – Senior Brett Thompson scored all of his season-high 20 points in the second half and tied a career high with four 3-pointers to lead the Youngstown State men's basketball team to a 75-65 win over IUPUI on Sunday afternoon at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins improve to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the Horizon League while the Jaguars fall to 5-12 overall and 1-5 in the league.
Ziggy Reid poured in 14 points with seven rebounds while John Lovelace, Jr., added 13 points with three steals.
Youngstown State turned 28 Jaguar turnovers into 33 points, and outscored IUPUI 44-33 in the second half to pull away for the victory.
Thompson got hot at the right moment scoring the first five points of the second half to give the Penguins a 36-32 lead after trailing at the halftime, 32-31. Reid added another basket to extend the YSU advantage to six at the 18:12 mark.
A 7-0 run by IUPUI gave the Jaguars a 39-38 edge, but the Penguins answered with a 7-0 run of their own on a 3-pointer by Thompson, a dunk by DJ Burns and a layup by Thompson to regain a 45-39 lead with 15:14 left.
The Jaguars tied the game twice more over the next four minutes and trailed by one, 52-51, after two free throws from Vincent Brady II at the 10:24 mark.
Youngstown State again was able to build a nine-point lead, 63-54, keyed by two more 3-pointers by Thompson, but IUPUI scored nine of the next 11 points to cut the Penguins lead to 65-63 with 4:35 remaining.
The Penguins scored 10 straight points to boost their lead to 12 points, 75-63, with under a minute to play.
In the first half, the Jaguars 54.2 percent from the floor and outscored the Penguins, 8-1, over the final five minutes of the first half to hold a 32-31 halftime lead.
Lovelace and Reid were instrumental for the Penguins in the first half with nine and eight points, respectively.
The Penguins, who shot 31.3 percent from the field in opening half, led for 15:01 in the first half, but the team's traded the lead three times and had two ties in the first 20 minutes of play.
Youngstown State host Purdue Fort Wayne, Wednesday, Jan. 10. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
