Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU’s Ziggy Reid battles through a pair of Oakland defenders on Sunday at the Beeghly Center. He scored a team high 18 points in the Penguins’ 88-81 defeat.

YOUNGSTOWN — It was a tale of two halves on Sunday for Youngstown State.

In the first half, the Penguins got hot from beyond the arc, hitting nine threes to build a four-point halftime lead.

But as YSU cooled down in the second half, Oakland started heating up. The Golden Grizzlies exploded for 53 second half points to hand the Penguins their first Horizon League defeat of the season, 88-81.

“I thought the whole game, Oakland did a really nice job of making timely shots,” head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “The concerning thing was the (62.5% shooting) and 69% from the three-point line (in the second half) — you’re not beating anybody like that.”

The rust was apparent for the Penguins, especially defensively, with it having been 10 days since their last time on the court. After previously favoring the long layoff between games, Calhoun changed his tune after Sunday’s defeat.

“I thought I would like it, but I absolutely despise that,” Calhoun said. “I think it’s a total disadvantage that the other teams played two days ago and we had 10 days off. But we were one of the teams that got the bye. So you play the hand you’re dealt, but it certainly backfired on us.

“What could we have done better? I don’t know. We practiced for probably an hour and 40 minutes every day for 2-3 days. So it wasn’t for a lack of effort trying to get these guys back in game shape. But all credit goes to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. They came in here and beat us.”

The Penguins (10-4, 2-1) hit three of their first four shots from deep against Oakland’s zone, and a 10-0 run in the first half helped YSU build a lead to keep the Golden Grizzlies (7-8, 2-2) at arm’s length.

By halftime, YSU had already hit nine threes, with three different players making at least two. But the Penguins would hit only three more shots from deep the rest of the way — shooting 25% from three in the second half.

“We just had no rhythm,” Calhoun said. “Usually when you score 81, you’re going to win those games. But we just never got over the hump. We didn’t play physical enough and got outrebounded by 10. Didn’t make it very hard on them.”

After YSU took its biggest lead of the game (eight points) early in the second half, Oakland went on a 10-0 run to retake a lead it would not relinquish.

As Oakland’s leading scorer, Trey Townsend came in averaging 16.1 points per game. YSU keyed in on him defensively, and Townsend didn’t score his first bucket until the 7:32 mark in the first half. By halftime, he had just four points, but he ended up finishing with 15.

As Townsend struggled early, Chris Conway and Jack Gohlke picked up the scoring slack in the first half to keep the Golden Grizzlies within striking distance. The pair combined for 21 in the first half, with Gohlke hitting each of his first three shots from beyond the arc and Conway doing his work in the post with 12 points.

Conway ended up finishing with 18 points, while Gohlke chipped in 12, all from three.

“From giving up straight-line drives to not listening to guys that can shoot — it was an utter disaster,” Calhoun said. “It was like week one or two. It was like what are we watching? We haven’t given up that kind of point production to another team in a very long time. So, we’ll be maniacs (Monday). We’re going to get back to work and it’s not to the standard of how we play basketball here in Youngstown.”

Conway and Gohlke carried the load for Oakland in the first half, but then Blake Lampman took over. Lampman scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to pace the Golden Grizzlies.

“You tell your guys that Blake Lampman’s a very dangerous player,” Calhoun said. “We’ve been facing him — I think this is five years now for him. So he’s made big shots over his career. But when you let a player get going like that, the basket becomes very big.”

Four players finished in double figures for YSU. Ziggy Reid and Brett Thompson each scored 16 points to lead the Penguins, and EJ Farmer had 14, while DJ Burns had 10.

Offensively and defensively, YSU just couldn’t keep up with Oakland’s onslaught in the second half. The Golden Grizzlies rode their momentum and never let up.

“You gotta have your eyes on the prize,” Calhoun said. “Each day it’s about getting better, and we certainly just weren’t ready to play. So I take the fall for that, but we gotta be better in practice as coaches.”

Next up, YSU travels to face Horizon League preseason favorite Northern Kentucky on Wednesday.

“We don’t usually win down there,” Calhoun said. “It’ll be a very difficult game, there’s no doubt about it. They’ve kind of owned us on that court. So hopefully these new guys understand that and we have three days to get ready.”

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com