Saturday, November 19, 2016
Staff report
MOBILE, ALA.
The Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped a 79-54 decision Jacksonville on Friday afternoon on the first day of the Red Diamond Roundball Classic at the Mitchell Center.
Junior Cameron Morse was the only Penguin to reach double figures with 18 points as YSU fell to 1-2 on the season.
Jacksonville, who improves to 2-1, was led by Cody Helgeland with 22 points and J.R. Holder and Darien Fernandez each scored 15 points.
Youngstown State shot 50 percent in the first half but struggled to find its shooting touch from the perimeter, shooting 16.7 percent from 3-point range in the first half and 18.2 percent in the second half.
The Penguins, who trailed by as many as 13, 26-13, with eight minutes left in the first half and by 11, 36-25, with just over four minutes remaining, used an 8-0 run on layups by Devin Haygood, Morse, Stefan Rosic and another by Morse to get within three, 36-33, at the 1:58 mark.
A layup by Jacksonville’s Demontrez Austin and a 3-pointer by Darius Dawkins extended the Dolphins’ lead to eight at halftime.
Jacksonville pushed its lead out to 12 points, 49-37, early in the second half, but the Penguins trimmed the lead down to five, 53-48, after an 11-4 run.
The Dolphins responded by scoring the next 11 points to take a 64-48 lead with 7:12 left. The Penguins would not get any closer than 12 points, 64-52.
The Penguins face South Alabama at 3:05 p.m. today.