Covington powers YSU to road win

Staff report

Milwaukee, Wis.

Sophomore Garrett Covington scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half to lead the Youngstown State men’s basketball team to Saturday’s 76-51 win over Milwaukee at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Freshmen Darius Quisenberry and Jelani Simmons each scored 12 points for the Penguins (5-12, 1-3 Horizon League). Noe Anabir had eight points and five rebounds off the bench. Quisenberry also dished out six assists and had three steals.

Milwaukee’s Darius Roy led the Panthers (6-10, 1-2) with 11 points.

The Penguins held a slim 18-14 lead after a basket by Milwaukee’s Vance Johnson with 7:06 left in the first half, but Youngstown State held the Panthers scoreless for the next 9:38.

During that stretch, the Penguins scored the final six points of the first half and the first seven of the second half to boost their lead to 31-14 with 17:41 remaining.

A pair of layups by Covington and another by Simmons extended the lead to 36-15 before Milwaukee’s Jamar Madge made three straight 3-pointers to cut the YSU lead down to 36-24 at the 13:29 mark.

The Penguins, who shot 57.6 percent from the field in the second half with eight 3s, pushed their lead back to 52-31 following a 16-7 run over the next five minutes. Michael Akuchie hit back-to-back 3-pointers to boost the YSU to game-high 27, 61-34, with 5:53 remaining.

Milwaukee struggled from the field the entire game shooting just 34.5 percent from the floor (19-of-55), 29.2 percent from 3-point range (7-of-24) and 50 percent from the free-throw line (6-of-12). The Penguins also outrebounded the Panthers 46-31 and had 19 second-chance points.

For the game, YSU made 29-of-66 shots (43.9 percent) and knocked down 12 3-pointers. YSU led 24-14 at halftime before erupting for 52 points in the final half.