Mays scores 19 in YSU win; Vytas Sulskis plays key roll

DETROIT — DeAndre Mays scored a career-high 19 points and Kelvin Bright added 17 to lead Youngstown State to an 80-78 victory over Detroit on Thursday.

Detroit led 41-35 at halftime, but the Penguins (4-8, 1-2 Horizon League) used an 18-7 run to take a 57-52 lead on Sirlester Martin’s jumper with 12 minutes left.

The Titans (4-8, 0-3) regained a 63-62 lead on Nema Jokich’s 3-point shot with 8:40 to play. But Youngstown State scored the next six points, capped by Bright’s jumper with 5:45 remaining.

Detroit got 24 points from Woody Payne and 19 from Thomas Kennedy.

YSU shot 58.7 percent from the field and rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit at Calihan Hall.

The Penguins led by nine points, 75-66, with 1:14 left before two layups by Payne and a three-point play by Kennedy brought the Titans within three, 76-73, with 32 seconds left.

After Mays missed two free throws, sophomore Vytas Sulskis hit two free throws with 13 seconds remaining as the Penguins led, 78-73.

Kennedy drilled a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining, but Sulskis made two more free throws to seal the victory.

The Penguins began the second half with a six-point deficit, but scored the next four points on two Jack Liles free throws and a jumper by freshman Ashen Ward.

A jumper and a 3-pointer by Mays and a jumper by Liles gave the Penguins their first lead, 46-45.

After a Payne 3-pointer, the Penguins took charge with a 13-4 run.

Youngstown State trailed by as many as 14 points, 31-17, with 5:54 remaining in the first half and by 13 with 3:43 to go before the using an 11-0 run to get within two, 37-35.

Ward, who scored eight points, sparked the Penguins’ surge with two 3-pointers and Mays made two layups and two free throws during that span.

The Penguins continue their road trip with Saturday’s game against Wright State at 7 p.m. at the Nutter Center in Dayton.