Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's men's basketball team had runs of 18-0 and 11-1 in the second half to rally for an 85-76 victory over IU Indy on Friday evening inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins trailed by 10 in the first half and by as many as eight in the second half before rallying. YSU improved to 11-12 overall and 4-8 in Horizon League play, while IU Indy dropped to 6-18 overall and 2-11 in league action.
Cris Carroll scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, while Tae Blackshear scored all 14 of his points in the second half for the Penguins, who shot 60% from the field after halftime. Bryson Dawkins matched Carroll with 18 points, and he added nine rebounds and seven assists while energizing the crowd with several highlight-reel dunks.
Jaxon Edwards and Matt Compas scored 15 points apiece for IU Indy, which had seven players score between eight and 15 points.
The teams played within a possession of each other in the early going until Kameron Tinsley's 3-pointer gave IU Indy a 14-10 lead with 15:10 remaining. The Jaguars extended their advantage to 16-10 before Cam Polak's 3-pointer at the 13:19 mark ended a field-goal drought of nearly four minutes for the Penguins.
The Jaguars took their largest lead of the half when a 7-2 run gave them a 30-20 advantage with 5:59 remaining. Youngstown State answered with a 9-0 burst, sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Vlad Salaridze and Polak. Dawkins followed with a dunk at the 4:17 mark to finish the run, but IU Indy responded with seven straight points after calling timeout.
Matt Compas hit a jumper, and the Jaguars forced a turnover by trapping the inbounds pass for another quick bucket. Maguire Mitchell's 3-pointer with 3:02 left capped the run and put IU Indy ahead 37-28. YSU allowed just two points the rest of the half and went on a 6-2 run to shave the deficit to 39-34 by the intermission.
An alley-oop from Polak to Dawkins brought the Penguins within one in the first 90 seconds of the second half, and Carroll hit a baseline jumper to tie the score at 42-42 with 15:59 on the clock. Compas and Tinsley hit two quick 3-pointers to spark an 8-0 run that gave the Jaguars a 50-42 lead. IU Indy maintained that eight-point edge at 53-45 with 13:23 left, but that's when the Penguins ignited for their first major surge.
Youngstown State scored 18 straight points over three-and-a-half minutes, with five different players scoring during a stretch where the Penguins went 5-for-6 from the field, 2-for-3 from deep and 6-for-7 at the free-throw line. Carroll and Tae Blackshear? started the run with 3-pointers, and Blackshear had a steal that led to two free throws by Imanuel Zorgvol that knotted the score at 53 with 12:08 remaining.
The Penguins took their first lead since 8-7 on an alley-oop to Zorgvol out of the under-12 media timeout, and Dawkins followed with a thunderous poster dunk at the 10:35 mark. Rich Rolf's layup and a free throw from a technical foul pushed the lead to 60-53, and Blackshear made three free throws with 9:43 left to give the Penguins a 10-point, 63-53 lead.
YSU led 65-55 with 8:40 remaining following a Blackshear layup, but the Penguins went more than four minutes without a field goal as IU Indy went on an 11-1 burst to tie the game at 66 with 6:13 remaining. The score was tied again at 68 when the Penguins made their second big run that tipped the game in their favor.
Jason Nelson made two free throws with 4:58 left to start the run, and Carroll and Blackshear hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Penguins ahead 76-68 with 3:57 on the clock. YSU's lead was at least seven the rest of the game.
Youngstown State shot 51% from the field for the game, including 10-for-26 from 3-point range. The Penguins were also 25-for-29 from the free-throw line. IU Indy shot 45.3% from the field while making nine 3-pointers, and YSU outscored the Jaguars 25-9 at the free-throw line.
Youngstown State heads back on the road to visit Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the game will be aired on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
