The Youngstown State men’s basketball team (14-14, 7-10 Horizon) pulled off an offensive onslaught unlike any other in program history and ended up with its highest-scoring game of all time against a Horizon League opponent in a 106-82 win over Cleveland State (10-18, 6-11 Horizon) on Wednesday night at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The Penguins are now in eighth place by themselves in the Horizon League, while the Vikings are in 10th.
YSU’s 106 points topped its previous scoring high for a Horizon League matchup by just one point, which was 105 against IU Indy (known as IUPUI back then) in 2023 and Detroit Mercy in 2024. Those 106 points are also the most that YSU has ever scored against Cleveland State in 109 career matchups between the two schools.
The Penguins shot 63.5 percent (33-of-52) from the field, 63.6 percent (14-of-22) on three-pointers, and 76.5 percent (26-of-34) from the foul line. In the first half, the home team went 9-for-14 from three-point land, with six players making at least one shot from beyond the arc.
“We played really well offensively, thought we really shared the ball,” Penguins head coach Ethan Faulkner said. “This was a game that certainly called for us to try to attack them inside against their switching defenses. Thought we did a really good job of that. Really shared the basketball, 21 assists on 33 made baskets. That’s a recipe for success. Got to get some things cleaned up on the defensive end of the floor, got to continue to stay urgent in everything that we do. Thought we just gifted [Cleveland State] about 12 or 15 points, particularly in transition defense. That continues to be an area of growth for our team, to play the next play like it’s the most important possession of the game, and we’ll continue to work on it.”
Cris Carroll filled the stat sheet with 26 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists while going 4-of-5 from downtown. “It was just being a connected team tonight,” he said after the game. “Playing together, playing for each other. For me, I think that our defense leads to our good offense. When we’re guarding, it’s gonna be a good offense.”
Vlad Salaridze scored a season-high 24 points off the bench with 15 of his points coming from the first half. Tae Blackshear also scored 18 points off the bench. Both Bryson Dawkins and Rich Rolf combined for 25 points.
Cleveland State’s Jaidon Lipscomb scored a career-high 32 points and shot 8-of-17 from beyond the arc, while Kamari Jones scored 14 points of his own. Josiah Harris finished with eight points and a game-high eight boards, while Ivan Spirov scored nine points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting. Rob Summers’ Vikings shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) overall on field goals and 34 percent (16-of-47) on threes while also hitting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) of their free throws. CSU played without two starters due to injuries — Priest Ryan and leading scorer Dayan Nessah (15.5 ppg).
Cam Polak, Carroll and Jason Nelson each nailed a triple as the home team scored 13 of the game’s first 17 points at the 14:41 mark.
Cleveland State then went on an 8-2 run, starting with threes from Harris and Spirov and followed up by a Foster Wonders bucket, to get within one possession at 15-12 with 13:27 to go. But YSU answered with a 12-0 run over the next 3:29 that put them ahead 27-12 at the 9:54 mark. It started with back-to-back threes from Blackshear and Rolf, followed by two layups from Salaridze with another layup from Blackshear in between.
The Vikings got within nine twice, courtesy of an 11-2 run with back-to-back triples from Lipscomb and Jones in a 31-second span before sixth man Chevalier Emery scored CSU’s next five points to make it 32-23, but Salaridze would score seven points of his own during a YSU 8-1 run that gave the home team its largest lead of the half at 40-24 with 5:37 remaining.
Cleveland State trailed by at least eight points for the rest of the half, and Salaridze’s third three-pointer of the night made it 52-38 YSU heading into the locker room.
“For me, it’s a game-to-game basis, what’s needed,” Salaridze said. “From early on, I had it going. My teammates trusted me with shots, so I was able to knock those down. I’m appreciative of that.”
Carroll kicked off the second half to push the margin to 18 points at 56-38, and the game was basically out of reach from that point forward.
Cleveland State got within 12 at 63-51 with 14:26 remaining following a Spirov midrange shot and a Lipscomb three, but Blackshear and Carroll each scored six points during YSU’s 12-0 run of the night that made it 75-51. The margin was cut down to no more than 17 points over the last 11 minutes of the contest.
YSU reached the century mark on made free throws from Salaridze and a Nelson layup with 3:23 to go. Later on, the Penguins ended up with their biggest lead of 26 at 106-80 following a three-point play from Rolf and a layup from Derrick Anderson to set the record with 46.9 ticks before time expired.
Youngstown State plays its final home game of the regular season when Northern Kentucky comes to town on Senior Day on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
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