Penguins rebound on West Coast

Youngstown State held off Weber State, 69-66.

STAFF/WIRE REPORTS

LOS ANGELES — Byron Davis scored a career-high 19 points including two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining and Youngstown State held off Weber State 69-66 in a consolation game of the CBE Classic on Tuesday night.

Vance Cooksey added 18. Davis and Cooksey combined to hit seven of the Penguins’ 10 3-pointers. They also kept the Wildcats (1-2) at bay over the final 52 seconds.

Cooksey scored four points and Davis hit two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining to preserve the win for the Penguins (1-1), who were coming off a 31-point loss to No. 2 UCLA in a first-round game Monday night.

Arturas Valeika led Weber State with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Juan Pablo Silveira added 14 points.

Youngstown State led virtually the entire game, building a 12-point halftime lead and a 13-point lead in the second half before the Wildcats rallied.

Brody Van Brocklin hit a 3-pointer to draw Weber State within one with 25 seconds left. But Cooksey scored on a fastbreak layup, then Davis got fouled and hit both free throws.

Tyler Billings missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.

The Penguins led by as many 18 in the first half, and although never losing the lead, let the Wildcats (1-2) get within on in the final seconds.

Davis was fouled with 1.8 seconds remaining and calmly sank two free throws. WSU’s full-court pass was caught by Tyler Billings who attempted a 16-footer that missed at the buzzer.

Freshman Vytas Sulskis had an impressive evening scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds. Sulskis made three treys in the contest.

Davis also had five assists while Jack Liles contributed nine points and six rebounds.

The Penguins jumped out quickly taking their largest lead of the contest 31-13 at the 8:10 mark of the first half on a 3-pointer by Sulskis.

The Wildcats cut the deficit to 11 before a Sulskis bucket with 11 seconds left in the opening half gave the Penguins a 37-25 halftime lead.

YSU scored the first four points of the second half taking a 42-25 lead but after that Weber State began to chip away.

The Wildcats scored 14 of the next 18 points to pull within 49-39, but with 5:35 left the Penguins still held a nine-point lead.

WSU crept within 61-55 before a Dwight Holmes basket gave the Penguins a 63-55 edge. Two free throws by Juan Pablo Silveira and a coast-to-cost layup by Daviin Harris cut the margin to 63-59 with 1:13 left.

Cooksey was fouled and stepped to the line making two free throws making the score 65-59 before Silveira scored a basket and Brody Van Brocklin drained a 22-footer making the score 65-64 with 25 seconds left.

Sulskis found Cooksey for a breakaway to beat the WSU pressure to give YSU a 67-64 lead. Harris drove the lane making a basket to get WSU within one for the second time.

YSU was able to get the ball in the front court and Davis was fouled after a Penguins inbounds play to help seal the win.

Youngstown State returns home to play host to Division II Lock Haven on Friday night. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 7:05 p.m.