Youngstown, Ohio — Rich Rolf made two go-ahead free throws with 9.7 seconds left, and Youngstown State's men's basketball team made a big defensive stand to preserve a 69-68 victory over Wright State on Wednesday evening.
The Penguins prevailed in the back-and-forth Horizon League opener for both teams, battling through 12 lead changes and five ties in the second half. Youngstown State improved to 5-4 overall and beat Wright State for the seventh straight meeting, and the Raiders dropped to 4-5.
Cris Carroll scored a game-high 19 points to lead three Penguins in double figures, while Bryson Dawkins scored 13 and Rolf finished with 10.
Youngstown State held a seven-point lead at halftime, and the margin was 45-38 when Cam Polak made two free throws on a technical foul. Wright State scored the next seven points and tied the game with 13:31 remaining, and the margin was within a possession for the next 12 minutes.
YSU held Wright State scoreless from the 4:18 mark until there was 1:30 remaining, and that allowed the Penguins time to open up a 67-62 lead. The Raiders scored the next five points, and Michael Cooper hit a corner 3-pointer to tie the game with 55.5 seconds left.
Wright State got a defensive stop, and Andrea Holden split a pair of free throws with 25.1 seconds left to give the Raiders a 68-67 lead. On YSU's next possession, Rolf got his defender to jump on a close out and was fouled on a drive to the basket. Rolf made both shots, Wright State missed a contested 3-pointer, and the clock ran out before either team could grab the rebound.
Youngstown State shot 44.6% for the game and prevailed despite going 1-for-8 from 3-point range in the second half. The Raiders shot 52.1% from the field and were plus-four in turnover margin, but Youngstown State held a 39-23 rebounding advantage and scored 17 points from offensive rebounds.
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line. YSU was 12-for-20 but escaped with Rolf making the two biggest attempts of the game, and Wright State was 15-for-28.
Youngstown State beat the buzzer four times in the opening half and closed the half by outscoring the Raiders 16-3 over the final seven minutes to take a 36-29 lead.
The Penguins took their first lead at 12-11 when Rolf made his second 3-pointer at the 14:42 mark, but the Raiders answered with a 7-0 run to claim their largest advantage of the half at 18-12.
Out of a YSU timeout, Dawkins hit a contested 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock for the first buzzer beater of the half to make the score 18-15, but Wright State remained ahead and got its lead back to six at 26-20 with 7:22 left. Youngstown State held the Raiders to three points the rest of the half, forcing six turnovers and limiting Wright State to 0-for-5 shooting from the field.
Carroll sparked YSU's 16-3 run to end the half with a banked 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock, and his back-door dunk on a pass from Rolf put the Penguins up 27-26. Michael Imariagbe made two free throws with 3:40 left as Wright State reclaimed the lead at 28-27 with 3:40 remaining, but Dawkins had a thunderous dunk on the next possession to spark a 9-1 run for YSU to close the half.
Carroll beat the shot clock again for a 3-pointer at the 2:24 mark to give YSU a 32-28 lead, and Tyler Robinett's buzzer-beating two-pointer put the Penguins up 36-29.
Dawkins scored 11 first-half points while Carroll scored 10, and YSU went 6-for-12 from 3-point range.
Youngstown State will continue Horizon League play on Saturday at IU Indy. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at The Jungle in Indianapolis, Ind., and the game will be aired on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
