Youngstown, Ohio – Purdue Fort Wayne's Corey Hadnot II made two free throws with 21.7 seconds left to lift the Mastodons to a 71-69 victory over Youngstown State's men's basketball team in a back-and-forth Horizon League contest on Wednesday night.
The Penguins and Mastodons battled through 16 lead changes and 10 ties inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center, and the largest lead for either team was six points. The final tie came when Imanuel Zorgvol's dunk made the score 69-69 with 54.8 seconds remaining. That slam capped a 6-0 run for the Penguins after the Mastodons had matched their largest lead with 4:05 left. Purdue Fort Wayne did not make a field goal over the final 4:47.
Cris Carroll scored 14 points to lead four Penguins in double figures, and he added eight rebounds. His 3-pointer on YSU's final possession was off the mark. Jaiden Haynes scored 12 points, Cam Polak scored 11 and Zorgvol contributed 10. Haynes had 10 points in the first half, and Polak's 11 all came in the first 20 minutes.
Hadnot II matched Carroll in the scoring column with 14 points, and Mikale Stevenson had 13 for the Mastodons. Purdue Fort Wayne shot 41.5% from the field, just below YSU's mark of 41.7%, but the Mastodons made two more 3-pointers and had a 17-11 scoring edge at the free-throw line.
Purdue Fort Wayne held a 7-4 lead at the first media timeout before Drew King's three-point play for YSU evened the score with 15:33 remaining in the first half of action. The Mastodons answered with a 3-pointer from Yuval Levin on the other end of the floor to regain a 10-7 edge. YSU took its first lead of the game at 12-10 on a 3-pointer by Vlad Salaridze, and a layup by Zorgvol put the Guins ahead 18-13 with 11:01 to play in the opening half.
PFW responded with a 7-0 run to move in front 20-18 before Polak's 3-pointer on the ensuing possession gave YSU a 21-20 lead. Polak gave the Guins the lead again at 24-23 with his second long-range connection, and his third triple in a 2:03 stretch tied the game 27-27 with 7:53 on the first half clock. The 'Dons posted the next four points to lead 31-27 and their advantage reached five for the first time at 39-34 with 3:38 left until halftime during a stretch where the visitors made 10 of 11 attempts from the field. YSU scored the next four points to pull within one at 39-38 before a triple by Mason Shrout pushed PFW's lead to 42-38 with just under two minutes until the intermission. The Penguins scored the final four points of the opening 20 minutes while closing the first half on an 8-3 spurt to pull even at 42-42 as the teams went to their respective locker rooms.
Youngstown State scored the first four points of the second half to get a 46-42 edge. The two teams played to a 52-52 tie with 11:46 remaining before Salaridze's second 3-pointer of the night put YSU in front 57-55 after PFW took a momentary one-point lead. The teams traded triples on back-to-back possessions as Carroll's second deep ball of the game gave YSU a 60-58 lead. The final tie of the game came when the score was locked at 60-60 with just over eight minutes remaining. After the Penguins gained a 62-61 edge, the 'Dons went on a decisive 7-0 run to take their 68-62 lead with less than five minutes left in the second half.
Carroll and Levin traded free throws to make the score 69-63, and Zorgvol started YSU's 6-0 run with a jumper with 3:53 remaining. Carroll's layup with 3:19 on the clock brought the Penguins to within a possession, and Zorgvol's dunk tied the score with 54.8 seconds left.
Youngstown State hosts Bryant & Stratton on Friday in a kids school field trip day at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. and the game will be aired on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
