Panthers cruise past Penguins

Staff report

Milwaukee

Junior Matt Donlan scored a team-high 13 points, but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped an 87-51 decision to Milwaukee on Monday at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Donlan was the only Penguin to reach double figures while junior Jorden Kaufman and sophomore Francisco Santiago each scored eight points.

Leading the Panthers (18-11, 9-7 Horizon League) was Matt Tiby with 19 points and Jordan Johnson with a triple-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

The Penguins (10-19, 5-11) shot 30.5 percent (18-of-59) from the field, 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from 3-point range and were outrebounded, 50-30.

The Penguins got within six, 43-37, after a layup by Cameron Morse, but the Panthers scored the next 12 points and 15 of the next 17 to expand their lead to 58-39 with 11:48 left.

The Penguins were held to just one field goal over a seven minute span.

In the first half, neither team shot well from the field as the Penguins connected on 10-of-27 from the floor for 37 percent and the Panthers went 10-of-29 for a 34.5 percent clip.

The Penguins also missed their first seven 3-pointers and made just two of 12 before halftime.

The Panthers, however, used a 23-15 rebounding advantage to score 10 second-chance points and went 15-for-19 from the free-throw line.

The game was tied at 9-9 after a Morse 3-pointer just under 13 minutes left. The Panthers went on a 16-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 25-13 lead.

The Panthers led by 13, 35-22, before Latin Davis drained the Penguins’ second 3-pointer of the game to get back within 10, 35-25, with 1:43 to go.

Santiago made three free throws down the stretch to get the Penguins within nine, 37-28 at halftime.