Men's Basketball Final Shot: Feb. 15 - Keeping Pace

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 15)
Youngstown State 94, Milwaukee 80
Green Bay 66, Cleveland State 59

Green Bay stayed alive in its effort to earn a share of the Horizon League men’s basketball regular-season championship, while Youngstown State moved a step closer to securing a home game in the tournament after the pair collected wins on Friday night.

Youngstown State 94, Milwaukee 80
Youngstown State had four players in double figures en route to scoring a season high in points in a 94-80 victory over Milwaukee at the Beeghly Center.

Kendrick Perry had a game-high 28, DJ Cole scored a career-best 18, Blake Allen had 17 and Kamren Belin added 15. As a team, Youngstown State (15-11, 7-6 Horizon) shot 56.9 percent, making 33-of-58 shots from the field. The Penguins made a season-high-tying 13 three-pointers for the second consecutive game.

Perry was 11-of-16 from the field, 3-of-5 from behind the three-point arc and 3-of-5 from the free-throw line while Cole was 7-of-10 from the field.

The Penguins scored 48 points in the first half and followed that up with 46 in the second half. YSU's shooting percentage went down in the second half despite connecting on 50 percent from the field.

In the second half, the closet Milwaukee (6-21, 2-11 Horizon) would get was 54-45, at the 16:34 mark. After closing to within nine, Cole scored the Guins' next 11 points, the final three of which touched off a 9-0 burst that put the contest out of reach.

Cole drained a three at 14:33, Perry followed with a fast-break layup, Allen converted a layup of his own and Fletcher Larson sank a basket to extend the lead to 71-51. YSU's biggest lead of the night was at 80-55 which came on the heels of an 8-0 spurt as Perry slammed one home following a steal, Bobby Hain connected on a 3-pointer and Belin knocked a triple down as well for the 80-55 advantage.

UWM outscored the Penguins 25-14 the rest of the way. The Panthers also had four players score in double figures led by Paris Gulley's 18 points.

In the first half, YSU shot 66.7 percent from the field making 16-of-24 shots, 50 percent from behind the three-point arc (6-of-12) and went 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the free-throw line.

All three of those added up to a 48-point performance and a 12-point halftime advantage.

Allen and Perry were the ring leaders combining to go 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The Penguins led just 19-17 at the 9:42 mark of the half before an 11-3 spurt put them ahead 30-20 at the 7:27 mark. But the Panthers clawed to within 33-30 at the 4:37 mark before another YSU run gave it a big lead at the break. Allen provided some separation with a 3-pointer while Cole followed with one of his own to push the lead back out to nine.

After Jordan Aaron responded with a 3-pointer, Larson drained a base-line jumper, Allen made two free throws and Shawn Amiker added a free throw to push the advantage to 44-33. Larson and Allen made baskets for the Penguins to close out the half as the Guins took a 48-36 lead into the locker room.

Aaron finished with 17 for the Panthers, while freshman J.J. Panoske scored a career-high 16. Evan Richard came off the bench to post 11.

YSU plays its final home regular-season Horizon League game of the season on Sunday against Green Bay. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 2:05 p.m. Milwaukee will close its road swing at Cleveland State on Sunday, tipping at 2 p.m. EST. The game will be available on ESPN3 and ESPN Full Court.

Green Bay 66, Cleveland State 59
Needing a road victory to stay in the race for the Horizon League regular-season championship, Green Bay found itself down nine at the half. However, the Phoenix flipped the script with its defensive press, rallying for a 66-59 win over host Cleveland State in front of an ESPNU audience.

Green Bay (14-12, 8-5 Horizon) was just 3-9 when trailing at the half this year, but outscored Cleveland State (12-15, 4-9 Horizon), 39-23, in the second half to secure the victory.

At the start of the period, it looked as if Cleveland State may run away, as the Vikings opened a 40-27 lead – its largest of the game – just 46 seconds into the second half, prompting Brian Wardle to burn a timeout.

Coming out of the break, Green Bay employed two defensive looks – a full-court, zone press and a 3-2 zone. Both systematically took Cleveland Sate out of its offensive flow and helped the Phoenix draw its way back into the game.

With the Vikings flummoxed into little movement and long possessions, Green Bay turned to its two preseason All-League picks, Keifer Sykes and Alec Brown. The duo had nine of the Phoenix’s 15 points during a 15-0 burst that gave Green Bay a 42-40 lead.

However, Cleveland State would take the punch and counter, retaking a 45-42 edge after Bryn Forbes knocked down his first bucket of the game, a three, with 8:35 remaining.

Once again, though, Brown and Sykes were there to carry the Phoenix. Sykes would hit a jumper ahead of Brown’s three-pointer, which put Green Bay up for good, 47-45. On the next possession, Brown would take the ball outside the left elbow, drive baseline and slam extended the lead to four.

The Phoenix would need the cushion, as they entered into a three-point shooting contest with Forbes over the next two minutes. The freshman’s second of the game drew the Vikings within 49-48 with 5:17 remaining, but Sykes would go coast-to-coast for a traditional three-point play to push the advantage back to four.

Another Forbes triple sliced the deficit to one, but Brown was there this time, coming off a high screen and roll to drill his second three of the game to return it to a two-possession game.

After a defensive stop, Green Bay would work the shot clock before Sykes drove left, stopped and popped for a three on the wing that gave the Phoenix a 58-51 lead with 3:12 to play.

Still, Cleveland State had one more push, coming behind a Tim Kamczyc jumper and three from Charlie Lee. Trailing 58-56 with 1:31 remaining, Luda Ndaye had a chance to tie the game after hitting the first of two free throws, but the second rimmed out and into Greg Mays’ hands.

Brown would miss from the left side with just over a minute left, but Jordan Fouse came in from the weak side to grab the putback, pushing the lead back to 60-57.

Needing a stop, Green Bay got just that when Lee’s scoop in the lane was high off the backboard; Sykes would hit all six of his free throws to seal the result.

Sykes led all scorers with 23 points, scoring 19 in the second half. Brown added 17 as the duo scored 31 of the Phoenix’s 39 second-half points. Mays chimed in with his first double-double of the year, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Lee scored 15 of his team-high 18 in the first half, while Forbes posted his 19^th double-digit scoring effort of his freshman year.

Green Bay will close its road trip at Youngstown State at 2:05 p.m. EST on Sunday, with ESPN3 picking up the contest. Cleveland State’s game with Milwaukee will tip at 2 p.m. EST on Sunday, with HLN and ESPN3 carrying the game.