Pittsburgh, Pa.  – The Youngstown State men's basketball team dropped its season opener 74-59 to Pittsburgh on Monday night at the Petersen Events Center.

YSU was led by Cris Carroll who scored 18 points while Jason Nelson added 15. Carroll was 7-of-12 from the field and connected on three 3-pointers while Nelson was 5-of-9 and also made a trio of triples.

The Penguins battled all evening and with 10:15 left, a putback by Carroll made the contest 54-50. YSU kept things close and was down just 62-55 just over four minutes later following a breakaway layup by Nelson. However, Pitt outscored the Guins 12-2 the remainder of the contest to pick up the victory.

Youngstown State shot 22-of-56 from the field with 10 makes and 33 attempts coming from beyond the 3-point line. Pitt took advantage of a large discrepancy in free-throw shooting making 22-of-27 while the Guins had just nine attempts, making five.

The Penguins started fast grabbing a 14-6 lead at the 14:31 mark of the first half on a dunk by Imanuel Zorgvol. Pitt countered with a 14-5 run to take a 20-19 lead by the 8:16 mark.

Over the course of the next two-and-a-half minutes the Guins scored six unanswered points to take a 25-20 lead. However, over the next 5:30, the Panthers went on a 14-3 run to grab a six-point lead at intermission.

Pitt built its 34-28 lead by ending the frame on a 9-0 run as the Guins were held scoreless in the final 4:29 of the half.

In the first half, each team made 11 field goals, but the Panthers made seven more free throws and grabbed 15 more rebounds. The Penguins led for 13:55 of the opening stanza.

The Guins head west on Friday to visit Grand Canyon in the first-ever meeting between the programs. Tipoff at the Global Credit Union Arena at CGU is set for 9 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Mountain time. The contest is available on 570 WKBN and the Mountain West Network.