Rochester, Mich. – Senior Cam Polak scored a season-high 26 points and made seven 3—pointers to lead the Youngstown State men's basketball team to an 86-82 road victory against Oakland on Thursday evening at the OU Credit Union O'Rena.
With the win, the Penguins improve to 13-13 overall and 6-9 in Horizon League play while the Golden Grizzlies fall to 14-12 overall and 10-5 in league action.
Senior Bryson Dawkins scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds while Cris Carroll recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Penguins, who made 12 3-pointers, were perfect from the free-throw line, connecting of all 18 shots from the charity stripe.
Michael Hogue led four Golden Grizzlies scoring in double figures with 21 points while Brett White posted 17 points and Brody Robinson added 16.
Polak, who made four 3-pointers in the first half, led a 16-3 run over a 4:06 span to turn a six-point deficit, 19-13, into a seven-point lead, 29-22, with 7:14 left before halftime. Senior Jason Nelson began the YSU spurt with a 3-pointer and two free throws by Carroll brought Penguins within one, 19-18.
Polak buried a 3-pointer to take a 21-19 lead, and after the Golden Grizzlies answered a with 3-pointer of their own, he followed with his fourth triple to regain a 24-22 advantage at the 8:36 mark. Polak converted two free throws and Carroll connected on a 3-pointer to give the Penguins a seven-point lead.
Oakland fought back to cut the Youngstown State lead to 31-30 with 5:30 to go, but the Penguins responded with an 11-3 burst sparked by dunks by Dawkins and Imanuel Zorgvol, a layup and two charity tosses by Carroll, and a 3-pointer by Dawkins pushed the Penguins advantage back to eight points, 42-34, with just 1:30 left before the intermission.
Oakland's Robinson hit a 3-pointer with just before the first-half buzzer and Youngstown State owned a 44-39 lead at the intermission.
A three-point play by Polak extended the YSU lead to seven points, 53-46, at the 17:01 mark, but the Golden Grizzlies used a 10-2 run and recaptured a 56-55 lead with 15:02 left in the game.
A layup by Vlad Salaridze snapped a 58-58 tie and consecutive dunks by Dawkins ballooned the Penguins lead to 64-58 with 12:39 remaining.
White buried a 3-pointer at the 8:35 mark to bring the Golden Grizzlies within one, 68-67, but a 3-pointer by Salaridze enlarged the Penguins advantage to seven, 78-71, with 4:26 left.
Following two Carroll free throws that extended the Penguins to lead to 84-79, Robinson was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and converted all three charity tosses to trim the deficit to 84-82 with nine seconds left.
Carroll sealed the contest with two free throws with seven second to go.
Youngstown State visits Detroit Mercy, Sunday, Feb. 15. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Calihan Hall in Detroit, Mich.
