Bright keys YSU victory

He scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as the Penguins beat Saint Peters, 68-56.

vindicator staff report

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Senior Kelvin Bright scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and the Penguins shot 52.4 percent after halftime en route to a 68-56 road victory over Saint Peter’s (N.J.) on Saturday afternoon at the Yanitelli Center.

The Penguins improved to 2-2 overall while the Peacocks fell to 1-2 on the season.

Senior Sirlester Martin scored 11 points, including nine in the second half, while junior Dan Boudler recorded a game-best eight rebounds.

Youngstown State coach Jerry Slocum was pleased with his team’s effort to pick up a difficult road victory.

“To get a win on the road against a good team like Saint Peter’s was important for us,” Slocum said. “We battled defensively against a very good offensive team.”

The Penguins owned a three-point halftime edge, 26-23, and clung to a 30-29 lead after Saint Peter’s Nick Leon hit a jumper with 15:36 left in the game.

A 7-0 run over the next minute-and-a-half, capped by a 3-pointer by Vytas Sulskis, put the Penguins ahead by eight points, 37-29, with 13 minutes left.

The Peacocks whittled the Penguins advantage back down to five, 41-36, at the 9:29 mark, but a 3-pointer and two free throws by Bright, and a dunk by Martin extended the Penguins’ cushion to 12 points, 48-36, with 7:36 to go,

Bright hit another 3-pointer at the 4:48 mark to put the Penguins up by a game-high 17 points, 55-38, and the Peacocks would never cut the deficit to under 10 points.

Wesley Jenkins scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds — both team-highs — to lead Saint Peter’s, while Ryan Bacon had 17 points and Nick Leon 13. The Peacocks shot just 2-of-17 from 3-point range and made just 40 percent of their shots from the field.

The Penguins return home to host Geneva Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center. They will then embark on a five-game road trip beginning Saturday at Pittsburgh.

YSU opened the season with an 83-57 loss to Xavier, then waltzed past Hiram in its home opener before dropping its third game to Kent State, 70-61.

The Penguins have split their four meetings with Saint Peter’s, winning the last two, including last year’s victory in an ESPN BracketBuster game at Beeghly Center.