Amiker, Hain, Keene power Penguins to fifth win in last six games

Staff report

VERMILLION, S.D.

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team got big games from Shawn Amiker, Bobby Hain and Marcus Keene to beat South Dakota, 87-79, on Friday night.

Amiker and Hain each posted double-doubles and the Penguins shot 53.3 percent from the field to win for the fifth time in six games, this time at the at the DakotaDome.

Amiker finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds and Hain had 16 points and 12 rebounds. It was Amiker’s third double-double of the season and the fourth for Hain, who scored 10 points in the second half.

Keene, who made at least four 3-pointers for the fifth straight game, scored 18 points and had five assists.

South Dakota (3-6) rallied late in part because of 13 3-pointers. Tyler Larson led the Coyotes with 21 points and Brandon Bos and Casey Kasperbauer each scored 18.

The Penguins (6-4), who shot 57.7 percent in the second half, led by as many as 15 points midway through the second half, but the Coyotes whittled the lead down to three, 73-70, with 2:51 to go.

Twice the Penguins built the lead to six on 3-pointers by Shaun Stewart and Keene, but each time Kasperbauer answered with a 3-pointer of his own, including one with a minute left to make the score 79-76 in favor of the Penguins.

D.J. Cole missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Amiker’s offensive rebound and three-point play extended the Penguins lead back to six, 82-76, with 45 seconds left.

A three-point play by USD’s Trey Norris got the Coyotes back within three, 82-79, but the Penguins made five of six free throws down the stretch.

The Penguins owned a four-point halftime lead and opened the second half with on an 11-5 run to take a 10-point lead, 48-38, with 16:34 remaining. After the Coyotes cut the deficit to seven point, a 3-pointer by Keene, a put-back by Sidney Umude and a layup by Stewart extended the Penguins lead to 14, 57-43.

A Hain layup, a jumper by Osandai Vaughn and another 3-pointer by Keene gave the Penguins their largest lead of the game, 64-49, with 11:21 to go.

Over the next six minutes, the Coyotes used a 15-5 run to cut the YSU lead down to five, 70-65, with 5:08 to go.

The Penguins host Thiel at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday at Beeghly Center.