Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State remained unbeaten at home and shot better than 56% from the field in both halves en route to a 103-52 victory over Thiel on Sunday afternoon inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins never trailed their Division III opponents from nearby Greenville, Pa., and all 12 YSU players who appeared scored at least two points.
Cris Carroll led the Penguins with 17 points in 20 minutes, making four of YSU's 13 3-pointers. Rich Rolf scored eight of Youngstown State's first 13 points and finished with 13 on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, while Vlad Salaridze and Jaiden Haynes finished with 12 points apiece, and Jason Nelson scored 10. Haynes was 5-for-5 from the field overall and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
Anthony Henderson II scored 15 points to lead Thiel.
Youngstown State shot 59.4% from the field overall and 41.9% from 3-point range, and the Penguins made 12 of their first 15 attempts in the second half as they built on their 46-22 halftime lead. YSU made 19 more field goals than the Tomcats, including 10 more 3-pointers. The Penguins also held a 54-24 scoring edge in the paint.
Carroll made a 3 on Youngstown State's first possession 19 seconds into the game, and the Penguins held the upper hand the rest of the contest. Rolf scored eight of YSU's next 10 points, and Haynes' layup at the 13:29 mark gave YSU an 18-5 advantage.
Thiel, which was 1-for-13 from the field to start, hit two 3-pointers during a six-point run that trimmed the margin to 18-11, but YSU countered with 10 straight points and led by double digits for the duration.
The Penguins took their first 20-point lead at 36-16 on a Carroll triple with 4:21 left, and a 3 by Salaridze and two buckets by Imanuel Zorgvol allowed YSU to close the half on a 7-2 burst.
YSU then made 12 of its first 15 attempts in the second half, and the lead reached 30 for the first time at 65-34 on a steal and dunk by Haynes with 14:14 on the clock. Bryson Dawkins then capped a 13-0 run with back-to-back buckets that pushed the margin to 78-36, and the Penguins went over 100 points on Tyler Robinett's putback with 1:31 remaining.
Youngstown State will step back into Horizon League play with a game at Robert Morris on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game from the UPMC Events Center will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 570 WKBN.
