Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's men's basketball team scored on its first seven possessions of the second half, and Cris Carroll scored a career-high 34 points as the Penguins beat Green Bay 88-81 on Thursday night inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Carroll connected on eight of YSU's 16 3-pointers, matching his career high for triples, and the Penguins made at least 10 3s for the 14th time this season. YSU finished 16-for-36 from long distance and made nine more 3s than the Phoenix.
Youngstown State improved to 10-11 overall and 3-7 in Horizon League play, while Green Bay dropped to 11-10 overall and 6-4 in league play.
Carroll finished 11-for-16 overall from the field and 8-for-12 from beyond the arc, and the senior forward from Tallahassee, Fla., added four free throws to reach his 34 points. The eight 3-pointers tied for the most ever by a Penguin in a Horizon League game and against a Division I opponent. The last YSU player to make eight triples in a conference game was Quin Humphrey against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 14, 2007.
Bryson Dawkins and Rich Rolf both scored 15 points, and Jaiden Haynes scored 12 as four Penguins reached double figures to complement Carroll.
C.J. O'Hara scored 22 points, and Marcus Hall scored 20 to lead Green Bay. The Phoenix shot 53.7% from the field, better than YSU's 50%, but Green Bay couldn't overcome the disparity from 3-point range.
Green Bay's only lead of the game was 3-0 on a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock before YSU went on a 13-1 run by scoring on five straight possessions. Carroll's first of three first-half triples finished that burst and put the Penguins ahead 13-4.
Youngstown State stretched its lead to 23-13 on two free throws by Dawkins at the 11:47 mark, but Green Bay answered with a 14-4 run to tie the score at 27 with 5:15 remaining on a Justin Allen layup. Jason Nelson hit a 3-pointer for the Penguins on their next possession to end a three-minute scoring drought, and YSU built its lead back to 38-29 on two more Carroll 3-pointers.
Green Bay made a 3-pointer in the final minute to cut the margin to 38-32 at halftime.
YSU torched the nets to start the second half, scoring on its first seven possessions to take a 57-39 lead on a 3-pointer by Carroll with 15:04 on the clock. Rolf buried two 3-pointers during a stretch where the Penguins scored 12 points in four possessions as part of a 19-7 run that opened up the lead.
Carroll's eighth 3-pointer put YSU up 66-52 with 9:02 left, and the Penguins led by at least nine until the final minute. After the Phoenix got within 67-58, Dawkins converted a layup with 6:04 on the clock to end a three-minute scoring drought and push the score 69-58. Dawkins hit a 3-pointer with 3:15 remaining when Green Bay was within nine again at 73-64, and YSU protected the lead down the stretch at the free-throw line.
Carroll surpassed his previous career high of 31 by making both ends of a one-and-one with 41.1 seconds left, and he added two more free throws before the game went final.
Youngstown State continues its three-game homestand on Saturday by hosting Milwaukee at 1 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. but was moved up an hour due to the winter storm forecasted for much of the country.
