It’s that time of the year again where every game in conference play matters. No matter which opponent is pitted against you, the pressure to deliver can sometimes be enough to drop a game before the referee tosses up the jump ball.
With just five games left in conference play, not only did Youngstown State deliver a 93-71 comeback win against then second-place Purdue Fort Wayne, they posted their highest scoring mark in Horizon League play to date.
This is the third straight win for the Guins, who have now entered a three-way tie with the Mastodons and Robert Morris for second place in conference standings with an 11-5 record. The scoring onslaught we saw in the second half of last night’s win has me convinced YSU’s offense is peaking at the right time.
Yesterday’s win didn’t start pretty. In fact, the first ten minutes looks eerily similar to the last time the Guins took on the Dons in the beginning of the 2025, where PFW handed YSU it’s first loss in conference play. It was all Maximus Nelson and Eric Mulder early, with Nelson knocking down four 3s and Mulder finding a pair of buckets inside to pace the Dons to a 16-5 lead. Four-different players for YSU scored to cut the deficit down to six before Quinton Morton-Robertson and Rasheed Bello extended the lead to 24-15 for PFW.
Then a switch flipped. Cris Carroll and Juwan Maxey both drained 3s to get the offense rolling. EJ Farmer made a nice move to the cup to get the lead down to three points. EJ Farmer hit a pair of free throws, and David Wilkerson converted an and-1 to tie the game at 28 a side. The Guins countered every PFW basket for the rest of the first half, finding themselves up 42-40 at the end of the first half. Nico Galette led YSU in scoring with 12 in a rather balanced scoring output.
Head Coach Ethan Faulkner must have delivered quite the halftime speech, as YSU came out of the second half on a mission to run away with it. Carroll and Maxey hit consecutive 3s to extend the lead to eight. Galette poured in five more points, and Maxey knocked down another jumper to make it a 55-44 lead and force a timeout from the Dons.
From there, the Guins never looked back, answering every punch PFW threw to chip away at the lead. Jason Nelson and Gabe Dynes came alive midway through the second, combining for 10 of YSU’s next 15 points up until the under-12 media timeout. After the break, Siem Uijtendaal dialed-up consecutive 3s to extend the lead to 20. The trio of Dynes, Nelson, and Uijtendaal combined for 27 points off the bench to carry the Guins to a 93-71 victory.
YSU shot 50% from the field and 37.5% from long range. They added 32 points from the bench, and scored 12 more points off fast breaks. They outscored PFW 51-31 in the second half, and held them more than 10 points beneath their conference-leading season scoring average of 82.8 ppg.
Galette paced the scoring for the Guins with 21 points, 10 boards, and five assists. Maxey was next, posting 17 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Carroll had 12 points and five boards on 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc in just 19 minutes of action. Nelson led YSU’s bench in scoring with 14, while adding 5 rebounds and assists. Dynes was a dominant force inside all night, grabbing seven boards, collecting eight stocks (6 blk, 2 stl), and adding eight points.
Scoring 93 points in a conference game of these stakes helps YSU build momentum to finish the next four games strong. For a team that had spent the first couple months of the season doing nothing but acknowledging their shooting woes and finding ways to win on the defensive end, it shows a strong amount of growth in a pivotal time of the year. Over their last five games, the Guins are averaging 86.2 ppg, while their opponents have averaged 77.6 ppg.
Faulkner spent many of his press conferences talking about scoring inconsistencies or shooting troubles. Faulkner and his staff were always quick to stand by their team and talk about the faith they had in this roster’s ability to eventually turn a corner. Give the man some credit now that things have started to click. YSU hasn’t made any drastic changes; the team has simply developed stronger chemistry amongst each other.
With all that said, the stakes for next game can’t get any higher. YSU will travel roughly 70 miles northwest this Sunday for a 2 PM matchup against Cleveland State, who sits atop the Horizon League standings at 12-3.
