Youngstown, Ohio — Juwan Maxey hit a 3-pointer in the right corner with three seconds remaining to finish Youngstown State's men's basketball team's comeback from an 18-point deficit and give the Penguins an 88-86 victory over Wright State on Thursday evening.
The Raiders made nine 3-pointers in the first half, and they led 63-46 with less than 12 minutes left in the second half. Youngstown State's EJ Farmer gave the Penguins their first lead of the second half with 19.3 seconds left, and Maxey's game-winner came after Wright State's Keaton Norris hit a go-ahead bucket with 11.1 seconds on the clock.
Maxey received the inbounds pass and passed ahead to Farmer once he crossed midcourt. Farmer demanded attention from the defense as he drove toward the right elbow, and he found an open Maxey in the corner. Maxey shot in rhythm over an outstretched Jack Doumbia and buried the clutch bucket to send Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center into a frenzy. Wright State's Alex Huibregtse's half-court heave at the buzzer was wide.
Youngstown State improved to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in Horizon League play, and the Penguins beat the Raiders for the sixth straight meeting. The Raiders are 11-12 overall and 5-7 against the conference.
Farmer finished with 23 points to tie for game-high honors, and four other Penguins reached double figures. Ty Harper scored 17 points, Maxey scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, Nico Galette also had 15, and Cris Carroll finished with 10.
Brandon Noel led Wright State with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Before the dramatic ending, Wright State led by double digits for more than 19 consecutive minutes.
The margin was within four points for the first seven minutes, and the Penguins trailed just 17-15 following a driving layup by Carroll at the 13:19 mark. Norris made a 3-pointer on Wright State's next possession to make it a five-point game, and Farmer's tip-in kept it a one-possession game at 20-17 with 12:27 on the clock.
After that Farmer bucket, Wright State scored 13 straight points as part of a 16-1 run that gave the Raiders their largest lead of the night at 36-18 with 7:18 remaining. Wright State made three 3-pointers during that burst, and it was 7-for-10 from long distance when Huibregtse's triple created the 18-point advantage.
The Penguins showed fight by keeping the Raiders scoreless for more than three minutes, and Harper's 3-pointer with 4:14 on the first-half clock cut the deficit to 36-29. YSU went without a field goal for the final three minutes of the half, and Wright State scored eight straight points during that span as it built its halftime lead to 50-36.
Wright State stretched its lead to 57-40 with 16:33 on the second half clock, and it was a 17-point margin again following a Norris bucket with 12:05 left. That's when Youngstown State started its second-half charge.
Harper and Gallette hit 3-pointers within a minute of each other, and Farmer made another with 10:06 remaining to cut the margin to 64-55 and get the margin to single digits for the first time since it was 25-17 with nine-and-a-half minutes left in the first half. Farmer scored again with 9:25 left to get the Penguins within seven and complete an 11-1 run.
Wright State got its lead back to double digits three different times, the final time coming at 72-61 with 7:12 left, but the Penguins didn't stand down from the challenge. Carroll scored six points in a span of 11:14 to help YSU get within 74-69 with 4:45 on the clock, and the margin shrunk to four on a three-point play by Gallette at the 4:09 mark.
Wright State built its lead back to 81-74 with two-and-a-half minutes left, and YSU scored the next five points on two free throws by Harper and a Maxey triple to get within 81-79. The teams traded buckets, and Wright State split a one-and-one situation with 1:13 remaining to go ahead 84-81.
Harper scored on a drive to get the Penguins within one at 84-83 with 50.4 seconds left, and Youngstown State forced a turnover on Wright State's next possession. Farmer then finished on a strong drive to the left block to put YSU up 85-84 with 19.3 seconds left, its first advantage since it was 9-8 nearly 36 minutes earlier.
Norris followed with his baseline jumper to put Wright State ahead and set up Maxey's heroics.
YSU limited Wright State to 2-for-10 from beyond the arc in the second half, and the Penguins ended up making just one fewer triple than the Raiders. Youngstown State held a nine-point advantage at the free-throw line.
Youngstown State will try to win again on Rosselli Court on Saturday as it hosts IU Indy at 2 p.m.
