Youngstown, Ohio – The Youngstown State men's basketball team built a 20-point halftime lead, staved off a second-half comeback and held on for a 64-58 Senior Day win over Northern Kentucky on Sunday afternoon at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins, who never trailed, improve to 15-14 overall and 8-10 in the Horizon League while the Norse fall to 17-12 overall and 9-9 in league action.
Senior Bryson Dawkins scored at least 20 points for the fifth time this season leading the Penguins with a game-high 22 points and connected on 9-of-12 from the floor. Senior Cris Carroll recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Imanuel Zorgvol scored seven points with nine rebounds and four blocks.
Donovan Oday led the Norse with 18 points while Kael Robiinson added 13 points.
Youngstown State used a dominating effort on the glass and stingy defensive performance in the first half to limit the Norse to just 15 points and 20 percent shooting from the field.
The Penguins jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a 3-pointer by senior Jason Nelson and a Dawkins layup. The Norse scored four straight before layups by senior Cam Polak and another by Dawkins pushed the lead back to five.
Following a free throw by Carroll, back-to-back 3s from junior Tae Blackshear and Polak extended the Penguins lead to 16-4 with 11:54 left before halftime.
The Norse cut the Penguins advantage to 10, 22-12, with 5:52 to go but the Penguins used a 13-3 run to close out the half with a 35-15 lead. Baskets Blackshear, Dawkins, and Zorgvol ballooned the Penguins advantage to 17, and Carroll's steal and pull up 3-pointer gave YSU 33-13 lead with just over a minute left.
The Norse scored the 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to get within 11 before a Dawkins basket pushed it back to 13, 39-26, at the15:56 mark
The Norse twice got within 10 points at 39-29 and 43-33 but a dunk by Zorgvol and layup junior Rich Rolf pushed the lead back to 14, 47-33, with just under 12 minute remaining.
Northern Kentucky went on a 12-2 run over the next 5:41 to trim the deficit to six, and the Norse got as close as three, 60-57, following a Robinson 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining.
Carroll made four straight free throws with under 30 second left to seal the victory for the Penguins, who won at home for the 10th time this season.
Youngstown State visits Milwaukee, Wednesday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at UWM Panther Arena.
