Setting the Scene
The No. 4 seeded Youngstown State men's basketball team (20-12) takes on No. 2 Cleveland State (21-11) in the 2025 Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship Semifinals, Monday, March 10.  Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. at Corteva Coliseum and the game will be televised on ESPN2 and aired 570 WKBN.

Up Next
With a win, Youngstown State will advance to the 2025 Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship game, Tuesday, March 11. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. 

Last Time Out
Nico Galette and Ty Harper caught fire in the second half to lead Youngstown State to a 72-67 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 6 in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Barbasol Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. Galette finished with a game-high 22 points while grabbing 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double, and Harper scored 20 points. They combined to make five 3-pointers in the second half to give YSU a big boost after the Penguins went 0-for-15 from long distance in a low-scoring first half. Junior Cris Carroll recorded his third double-double of the season with 11 points and tied a career high with 12 boards.

Guins in the Tourney
Youngstown State has an overall conference tournament record of 17-35 dating back to 1983-84. The Penguins own a Horizon League tournament record (2001-02 to present) of 10-23, 4-7 in the Mid-Continent Conference (1994-95 to 2000-01) and 3-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference (1983-84 to 1987-88). The Penguins own a record of 3-7 in the Horizon League quarterfinals. The Penguins are 3-4 in conference tournament semifinals and 0-2 in Horizon League semifinals.

YSU Semifinal Marks
OVC: 2-0 (1984 - W, 65-55 vs. Tennessee Tech; 1985 - W, 79-74 vs. Morehead State)
Mid-Con: 1-2 (1995 - L, 77-52 at Valpo; 1998 - W, 74-60 vs. Oral Roberts; 1999 - L, 72-58 vs. Oral Roberts)
Horizon League: 0-2 (2017 - L, 84-74 vs. Northern Kentucky, 2023 - L, 75-63 vs. Northern Kentucky)

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's record to 21-12 overall.
• Mark the third straight season Youngstown State won at least 21 games.
• Mark the first time Youngstown State advanced to the Barbasol Horizon League Championship game.
• Advance the Penguins to their fourth conference tournament championship overall
• Mark the Penguins' 18th overall conference tournament win and the 11th in the Horizon League. 
• Be the Penguins 67th overall victory over the last three seasons. 
• Mark Ethan Faulkner's 21st career win and second over Cleveland State.
• Mark Youngstown State's 48th win over Cleveland State and the second win over the Vikings in the Horizon League postseason. 

Series vs. Cleveland State
This is the 107th meeting between Youngstown State and Cleveland State in a series dating back to 1930. The Vikings own a 59-47 advantage in the all-time series, but the Penguins won the last meeting, 68-60, on Feb. 16 in Cleveland, Ohio. The teams split the regular-season series winning on each others home court.
Cleveland State defeated the Penguins, 80-72, on Jan. 11 in Youngstown.This will be the second consecutive season and the fourth time overall Youngstown State and Cleveland State will meet in the Horizon League postseason. The Penguins defeated the Vikings, 84-69, in the first round of the 2017 Horizon League Basketball Championship. Cleveland State beat the Penguins, 72-71, in the 2018 championship. Last season, the Vikings knocked off the Penguins, 82-70, in the 2024 quarterfinals. 

Scouting Cleveland State
Cleveland State enters the game with an overall record of 21-11. The No. 2 seeded Vikings are coming off a 68-63 win over No. 7 Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals. Tevin Smith leads the Vikings with 13.8 points per game while Tahj Staveskie is averaging 12.1 points per game. The Vikings average 73.4 points per game and are allowing 66.3 points per contest.

Last Time Against Cleveland State
In the last meeting, Nico Galette led five players scoring in double figures with 19 points to lead the Youngstown State to a hard-fought 68-60 victory over Cleveland State on Feb. 16 at the Wolstein Center. Galette scored a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds while Jason Nelson and Ty Harper each posted 11 points. EJ Farmer and Juwan Maxey both added 10 points.

First time Against the Vikings
Youngstown State trailed by as many as 16 in the second half and cut deficit down to one, but the Penguins could not complete the comeback and fell to Cleveland State, 80-72, on Jan. 11 at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. Trailing 66-52 with 5:55 to go, junior Cris Carroll scored 13 straight points to get the Penguins within one. Carroll hit back-to-back 3-pointers, had a steal and layup, connected on a third 3-pointer, and made two free throws for the 66-65 deficit at the 3:39 mark. After 3-pointer by Cleveland State's Tahj Staveskie, Nico Galette made two charity tosses to get back within two, but the Vikings scored the next six points to boost their lead to 75-67 with 34 seconds remaining. Carroll led the Penguins with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor with three 3-pointers while Ty Harper had 16 points and Jason Nelson added 10 points. The Penguins connected on 13 3-pointers, including nine in the second half.

Galette Goin' Crazy
Since Jan. 19, senior Nico Galette has been on quite tear. The Rahway, N.J. native has scored 183 points with 114 rebounds for averages of 14.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over 13 contests. During that span, Galette has posted six of his eight double-doubles.

Harper Back-to-Back 20-Point Games
Senior Ty Harper turned in his best offensive game for the Penguins over the last two games. Against Northern Kentucky on March 1, he scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting with four 3-pointers. Harper also grabbed three rebounds and dished out five assists. Harper poured in 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting with three 3-pointers in the quarterfinals against Purdue Fort Wayne on March 6. Harper has connected on 7-of-12 from 3-point range in the last two games.

Faulkner Named Finalist For 2024-25 Joe B. Hall Award
Youngstown State's Ethan Faulkner has been named as one of 16 finalists of the 2024-25 Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-time head coach in Division I college basketball. Faulkner has led the Penguins to a 20-12 overall record and a 13-7 mark in Horizon League in his first season at the helm of the Penguins.

Three Earn Horizon League Postseason Honors
The Horizon League announced on Monday that three Youngstown State men's basketball players earned Horizon League postseason honors after a vote of the league's head coaches. Seniors Nico Galette and EJ Farmer were named All-Horizon League Third Team while sophomore Gabe Dynes was named to the All-Defensive Team. This marks the fourth straight season Youngstown State place multiple players on all-league teams. Over that span, the Penguins have landed 10 all-conference selections.

Farmer Named to Valeo #HLMBB All-Academic Team
Youngstown State senior EJ Farmer has been named to the Valeo Horizon League Men's Basketball All-Academic Team after a vote by the league's faculty athletic representatives.  Farmer, a business major from Cleveland, Ohio, leads the Penguins with 15.1 points per game and carries a 3.51 grade-point average.  He is the fourth Youngstown State player in the last four seasons to earn all-academic team laurels and the first since 2023.