YSU men remain winless on the road

Staff/wire report

CHICAGO

A balanced scoring attack helped spark Loyola to an 84-71 victory over Youngstown State Thursday at the Gentile Center.

The Ramblers (13-8, 4-6 Horizon League) received half of their points (42) from their reserves and four players scored in double digits as Loyola ran its winning streak to three games.

Youngstown State opened the second half with a flourish, going on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 37 on a basket by Vytas Sulskis.

After the teams traded three-point field goals, McCammon drained another 3, then added a pair of free throws, while Ben Averkamp capped that 7-0 scoring spurt with a lay-up to give the hosts a 47-40 advantage with just under 15 minutes left.

A lay-up by Kendrick Perry, then a 3-pointer from Ashen Ward, brought the Penguins within two points (47-45), but a 3 by Loyola’s Denzel Brito stemmed the tide and ignited an 18-4 Rambler run.

A jumper by Andy Polka closed out that Loyola surge and gave the Ramblers a 65-49 lead.

The Penguins closed the gap to seven points, at 67-60, with 4:50 remaining, but Terrance Hill scored Loyola’s next four points, as LU climbed ahead by double digits (71-61) and regained control of the contest.

Loyola, which hit 19 of 20 attempts from the free throw line, buried all six of its foul shots in the final 2:17 to ice the game.

Kendrick Perry led the Penguins (7-13, 1-9 Horizon), who dropped their fourth straight game, with 21 points.

YSU is 0-9 on the road.

It was the 2,000th game for YSU’s men’s basketball program; the Penguins have won 990 of them.

Averkamp registered his first career double-double (19 points, 12 rebounds).