Dec. 15, 2008 | Box Score

Kent State Uses Big Second-Half Spurt to Hold Off Penguins

    Kent, Ohio -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team led Kent State by five early in the second half, but Kent State scored 16 consecutive points to seize control of the game and hand the Penguins a 82-74 defeat on Monday night at the M.A.C. Center.
   YSU (1-7) led 40-35 after a Jack Liles basket and a three-point play by Vytas Sulskis before the Golden Flashes (4-5) reeled off the next 16 points as YSU missed five shots and committed seven turnovers in just over a five-minute span.

    Kent State went on to a 16-0 run over the course of the next 4:54 to put the Golden Flashes up 51-40. Kelvin Bright finally ended the run when he hit a jumper with 12:29 left, making the score 51-42.

    Overall, KSU scored 24 of the next 26 points to lead 59-42 with 9:31 left in the contest.

    YSU put some pressure on in the final five minutes making an impressive run of its own. Trailing 69-48 at the 6:33 mark, the Penguins cut the deficit to 74-63 with 2:36 left.

    Vance Cooksey drew a foul from Kent State's Jordan Mincy, who was also called for a technical, with 2:36 remaining. Cooksey made one of four free-throw attempts to get within 10 points, but Kent State converted two straight field goals, the first by Anthony Simpson, to push the advantage back to 14.

    Cooksey led the Guins with a season-high 24 points while Bright added 21 points. Leading the way for Kent State was Al Fisher who scored 20 points.

    The Penguins shot 43.5 percent for the game and 45.5 percent in the second half. Kent State finished the game 51.5 percent from the field, shooting 59.6 percent in the second half.

    The first half was a back-and-forth battle as both teams combined for a total of five lead changes and the game was tied six times.

    Youngstown State won the rebounding battle by a total  38-34 and also had three more assist than the Golden Flashes. 

    The Penguins took a slim two-point lead at the half as a Bright finger rolled a breakaway layup in just before the first-half buzzer off of a Dan Boudler steal and pass to give the Penguins a 31-29 lead.

    Early in the first with Youngstown State up 5-2 with 16:35 left in the half, the Golden Flashes scored the next eight points over a span of 2:28 to take a 10-5 lead. The five-point margin was the largest lead of the half for Kent State.

    The Penguins responded with a 13-2 run over the next 4:55 to go on top by a score of 18-12 with 9:12 left in the half. During the spurt, Cookey scored eight points. That six-point bulge was the largest in the half for either team.
    Fisher had 10 points to lead KSU while Bryant scored nine to pace the Guins.

      The Penguins shot 41.9 percent from the field in the first half (13-of-31), including 14 bench points. Kent State scored 24 of their 29 first-half point in the paint, posting a 44.8 field goal percentage (13-of-29). The Golden Flashes were held without a 3-point field goal and missed four free throws. The Guins forced Kent State into 10 turnovers, six of which were credited as steals.

    The Penguins remain on the road playing at High Point on Friday night. Tipoff for YSU's first-ever contest against the Panthers is set for 7 p.m. and will be carried live in Youngstown on 570 WKBN.