Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's men's basketball team made nine first-half 3-pointers to build a big lead, and the Penguins beat Chicago State 87-64 on Friday afternoon inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The victory improved Youngstown State's record to 4-4 overall and 2-0 at home, while Chicago State dropped to 0-8.
The Penguins finished with 17 3-pointers, one shy of a school record, on 41 attempts. Youngstown State shot 50.8% overall from the field while holding Chicago State to 37.7%, and the Penguins outscored the Cougars by 39 points from beyond the arc.
Cris Carroll and Bryson Dawkins led the Penguins in scoring with 15 points apiece, with Carroll's points all coming from the 3-point line. Vlad Salaridze added 13 points off the bench, and no Penguin played more than 23 minutes.
Chauncey Gibson and CJ Ray led four Chicago State players in double figures with 14 points each.
The Cougars scored the game's first two points, but the Penguins scored the next 15 and led by double digits for the final 35:38 of the game. Four different Penguins made 3-pointers during that burst, and Cam Polak's triple at the 14:48 mark put Youngstown State ahead 15-2.
Polak hit another 3 in transition following a block by Imanuel Zorgvol with 7:59 on the clock to give YSU eight 3s in the half and its first 20-point lead at 31-11. Tae Blackshear's 3 at the 5:54 mark extended the margin to 38-14, and YSU was 9-for-13 from long distance at that point. That was the Penguins' largest lead of the half, and their advantage was 46-26 heading into the locker room following an alley-oop by Zorgvol on their final possession.
A highlight-reel alley-oop from Jason Nelson to Bryson Dawkins put the Penguins up 56-30 just over four minutes into the second half, and Polak made YSU's season-best 13th 3 with 12:31 left to increase the margin to 64-35. Vlad Salaridze's 3 80 seconds later gave Youngstown State its first 30-point advantage at 67-37.
Carroll's fifth 3-pointer of the game made the score 79-48, and Nelson's 3 with 6:23 remaining was YSU's 17th 3-pointer. The Penguins had eight attempts to tie the program record but were off the mark and finished 17-for-41 from long distance.
Youngstown State's largest lead of the afternoon was 87-52 on a layup by Derrick Anderson with 3:26 remaining, and the Cougars scored the final 12 points of the game.
Youngstown State will open Horizon League action by hosting Wright State on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The game will be aired on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
