Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 21)
Youngstown State 67, Bethune-Cookman 51
Four players scored in double figures and two had double-doubles as Youngstown State men's basketball team handed Bethune-Cookman a 67-51 defeat at Moore Gym in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Youngstown State (7-5) was led by seniors Damian Eargle and Blake Allen, each of whom posted double-doubles for the Penguins. Eargle scored 13 points with 11 rebounds and had four blocks. Allen, who made four 3-pointers, scored 12 points and grabbed 10 boards.
A day after being named to the Cousy Award Watch List, Kendrick Perry nearly recorded the first triple-double in school history with a team-high 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Perry also had three steals and two blocks.
Fellow Florida native Bobby Hain came off the bench and scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Penguins' defense forced 14 turnovers, limited the Wildcats to a 35.5 field-goal percentage and grabbed 50 rebounds, including 35 on the defensive glass. YSU won the rebounding battle by a 50-32 margin.
The Penguins built a 14-point lead, 46-32, six minutes into the second half keyed by two 3-pointers by Allen and capped by a jumper by Hain with 14:10 left.
Bethune-Cookman countered with an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to cut the Penguins advantage down to 48-43 at the 9:50 mark.
Two free throws from Perry and a 3-pointer from Allen, his third of the second half, gave YSU a 10-point cushion with 9:06 left.
The Wildcats would not get any closer than eight points, 59-51, at the 2:40 mark, but the Penguins scored the final eight points of the game.
BCU led for just 16 seconds the entire game when it scored the first bucket of the game at the 18:57 mark.
After the Wildcats tied the game at 4-4, Hain, who scored nine first half points, ignited a 10-0 run over a three minute span when he hit a 3-pointer at the 16:40 mark as the Penguins took a 14-4 lead.
Bethune-Cookman trimmed the lead back down to five, 18-13, before the Penguins scored nine straight points to rebuild their lead back to 14, 27-13, at the 5:40 mark. Jumpers by Eargle and Kamren Belin, a 3-pointer by Allen and a layup by DJ Cole keyed the run.
The Penguins twice lead by as many as 16 points in the first half - the last was 33-17 with three minutes left after a Perry dunk.
BCU scored the final four points of the half as the Penguins took a 33-21 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.
