Chris
Seeking its first regular season Horizon League title, Youngstown State instead was dealt a road upset as Robert Morris used a huge run at the outset of the second half to knock off the Penguins, 83-64.
“(Robert Morris) played great. You have to give (RMU coach) Andy Toole and his staff a lot of credit,” YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “I thought the crowd was electric. That was by far our worst loss. We got outplayed for 20 minutes, and we have to respond on Saturday (at IUPUI).”
Youngstown State (22-8, 14-5 Horizon League) led 36-32 at halftime and then took a 43-38 advantage on a Dwayne Cohill jumper with 17:18 to play. However, that marked the last Penguin bucket until a Garrett Covington floater in the lane with 11:55 to go.
Between those, Robert Morris (15-15, 10-9 Horizon League) forced seven YSU turnovers and used those to fuel a 19-0 run to take a 57-43 lead with 12:10 left.
In all, YSU gave up 16 turnovers to just 10 assists as a typically high-octane offense that averaged 82.6 points per conference game was kept to its lowest output all season.
Dwayne Cohill led YSU with 18 points and six assists, while Adrian Nelson tallied 12 points and six rebounds. Malek Green added 10 points and four boards.
The Penguin offense was efficient from the field — 23-for-47 — but hit just four 3-pointers in a 4-for-12 performance from deep. That tied for the lowest total of the season with Jan. 21’s loss at Milwaukee.
“They turned the pressure up a little bit and forced some early turnovers in the first couple possessions to (gain) momentum, but … we didn’t play our brand of basketball, which is getting stops and getting out in transition,” Cohill said. “We kind of let them dictate our tempo. It was a tough one, but I’ll give them credit. They came out ready to play and had a great game plan.”
And as the Penguin offense struggled, the Colonial offense kicked into an extra gear, courtesy of a monster second half from Josh Corbin. After going scoreless before the intermission, Corbin finished 7-for-9 with five 3-pointers to score a game-high 19 points. Kahliel Spear added 15 points and five rebounds, while Enoch Cheeks scored 15 points. Michael Green III also was in double figures with 11 points.
RMU, which has won four straight games, shot a blistering 34-for-54 (63 percent) from the field and went 8-for-16 from deep.
Meanwhile, the Colonials also bludgeoned YSU in the post, outscoring the Penguins 48-32 in the paint and holding serve in the battle for rebounds.
Spear also racked up four blocks and altered plenty of other shots.
“We let them get into a rhythm,” Cohill said. “We didn’t really take them out of their stuff, and I think it helped them get in a flow, and then they made some tough shots. But I think on a lot of them we let them get in the paint and get a kick-out three or easy layup. We just need to go back, look at the film and clean it up a little bit.”
Calhoun added, “We just didn’t respond in the second half. I thought they beat us to balls, and I think they were playing really well.”
Youngstown State can still clinch a share of the regular season Horizon League title and likely the first seed for the league tournament on Saturday as it visits IUPUI. The Penguins likely will drop into a tie with Cleveland State going into the day, as CSU faces league bottom dweller Green Bay before a massive showdown at Milwaukee on Saturday night.
“Everything comes down to one game for the regular season,” Calhoun said. “We have to do a better job as coaches of getting these guys ready.
