YSU falls in OT to Rockets

Staff Report

toledo

Junior Cameron Morse hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation to erase a 21-point second-half deficit and force overtime, but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought decision to Toledo, 103-98, on Tuesday night at Savage Arena.

Morse, who scored a game-high 40 points on 17-of-35 shooting, hit a 3-pointer with 21.5 seconds remaining to get within four, 85-81, and Latin Davis hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go to get within two, 86-84.

Toledo’s Jaelan Sanford split a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to set up Morse’s game-tying three.

In the overtime period, the Penguins (1-1) led by three, 94-91, after a three-point play by Morse with 2:47 left, and by one, 98-97, after a backdoor cut and layup by senior Brett Frantz at the 1:01 mark.

The Rockets (1-1), though, scored the final six points of the game for the victory.

Davis scored a career-high 19 points, including 14 in the second half, and junior Francisco Santiago scored 11 points with five rebounds and five assists.

Toledo led by as many as 21 points in the second half but the Penguins shot 65 percent from the field and made five of their seven 3-pointers after halftime.

The Rockets led by 18, 72-54, with just 7:22 left, but the Penguins scored the next 10 points on jumpers by Santiago and Morse, a 3-pointer by Santiago and a three-point play by Davis to get within eight, 72-64, at the 5:48 mark.

After the Rockets extended their lead to nine at 81-72, Morse and Santiago each converted layups to get within six at 84-78. With 28 seconds left, the duo set up the Penguins’ barrage of 3-pointers in 20 seconds.

In the first half, Toledo scored the first 10 points of the game while the Penguins struggled to find their shooting rhythm and committed nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

For the half, Youngstown State shot just 30.6 percent from the floor while Toledo shot 50 percent and scored 10 points off of YSU turnovers to take a 43-27 lead into the half.

The Penguins face Jacksonville on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Red Diamond Roundball Classic hosted by South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.