Feb. 12, 2009 | Box Score

Men's Basketball: Mays Hits For 21 As Guins Hold Off Green Bay, 77-73

    Youngstown -- For the second straight game, the Youngstown State men's basketball team built a large lead only to stave off a heated comeback attempt as the Penguins held on to defeat Green Bay, 77-73, on Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center.

    The Penguins improve to 9-15 overall and 6-8 in the Horizon League while the Phoenix fall to 19-7 overall and 11-3 in the league.

    Junior DeAndre Mays scored a game-high 21 points while junior Kelvin Bright and sophomore Vytas Sulskis each scored 12 points off the bench.

    Owning a 16-point halftime edge, 38-22, the Penguins extended their lead to as many as 22, 50-28 after a jumper by Sirlester Martin at the 14:18 mark.

    The Guins maintained 20-point advantage, 58-38, with 9:40 to go before the Phoenix began their run.

    Over the next four minutes, the Phoenix outscored Penguins 13-3 to cut the deficit to 10 points, 61-51, with 5:06 left.

    The Penguins were able to push their lead back to 12 points with 3:19 remaining after a jumper by Bright.

    Green Bay, though, continued to rally and cut the Guins' lead t0 four, 71-67, after a 3-pointer from Troy Cotton at the 1:05 mark.

    After a free throw by Bright, Cotton answered with another 3-pointer to bring the Phoenix within two, 72-70, with 42 seconds remaining.

    Sulskis nailed two free throws and Martin made one-of-two charity tosses to extend the YSU lead back to five, 75-70, with 15 seconds to go.

    After a layup by  Bryquis Perine and two missed free throws by the Guins, Ryan Tillema's free throw cut the lead down to two, 75-73, with five seconds to go.,

    YSU senior Zack Rebillot sealed the victory with two free throws with two seconds left.

    For the game, the Penguins shot 47.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line.

    YSU used an impressive first-half effort to lead 38-22 at the break. The Penguins shot 52.2 percent from the field making 12-of-23 attempts. Green Bay struggled from the floor converting just 8-of-25 shots (32 percent). The Guins made six 3-pointers to Green Bay's two and had a big advantage at the free-throw line making 8-of-12 attempts.

    Five players had at least six points for a balanced YSU attack. Liles, Mays and Bright all led the way scoring seven points each.

    Green Bay led in the early stages before an 18-2 Youngstown State run put it in front 20-6 on a fast-break layup by Bright at the 12:15 mark.
    The Penguins kept the pressure on leading by 16 at four different times in the open half.
    YSU led 30-14 on a Liles basket at 6:43 before the Phoenix reeled off seven straight capped by a Rahmon Fletcher 3-pointer to creep within 30-21 at the five-minute mark.
    However, the Penguins responded by scoring the next five points to build their advantage back up 35-21 on a Liles layup. After a free-throw by Tillema, Sulskis canned a trey with 1:25 left to give YSU its 16-point halftime cushion.

    The Penguins return to action on Saturday night when they play host to Milwaukee. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 7:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on NewsRadio 570 AM WKBN.