Roberts, No. 5 Youngstown State Hold On To Defeat No. 8 Detroit, 82-80, In First Round Of Horizon League Championship

Feb. 27, 2007

Final Stats

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - Keston Roberts scored 31 points, 20 of them in the first half, and Youngstown State hung on after blowing a 17-point second-half lead to defeat Detroit 82-80 on Tuesday in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.

A 3-pointer by Detroit's Brandon Bell tied it for the fourth time at 77-77 with 1:07 left in the game, but Roberts hit a jumper and John Barber made his only two free throw attempts for the Penguins (14-16).

Jon Goode hit another 3 to pull the Titans within 1 with two seconds left, and Detroit (11-19) fouled after a timeout with 1 second left. Quin Humphrey sunk one of two free throws, and Bell missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Humphrey finished with 19 points and five assists, and Jack Liles added 13 for the Penguins.

Detroit's Brandon Cotton scored 33 points, including 6-for-9 shooting on 3s. Goode finished with 11 points and Chris Hayes had 10.

Roberts scored the first 10 points of the game and hit another jumper to put the Penguins up 14-2 early. Youngstown State led by as many as 19 points late in the first half and was still up 52-35 two minutes into the second.

But the Titans chipped away, tying it at 62-62 with 8:03 to go, and the game stayed tight after that.

Youngstown State plays Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday in the quarterfinals.