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Penguins fall to Cleveland St. in OT, 86-80

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State’s Tevin Olison goes up for a basket as Cleveland State’s Deante Johnson defends.

YOUNGSTOWN — This is one Youngstown State will want back.

With its back against the wall following a frustrating loss to Purdue Fort Wayne two days ago, YSU gave Horizon League-leading Cleveland State all it could handle. In fact, the Penguins had a few opportunities to close the game out.

But miscues at inopportune times and game-deciding shots not falling proved to be the Penguins’ undoing, as they faltered to the Vikings, 86-80, in overtime Sunday at the Beeghly Center.

“I thought for whatever reason, there was a change in the sense of urgency in our program. But we’re just not there yet,” said YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun. “We’ve got a lot of young guys; (Cleveland State is) the second-oldest team in the country. They’ve got like seven or eight fifth-year seniors, there’s a big difference playing every single game with guys that have played and won very meaningful basketball games.”

YSU (9-7, 3-3) led 35-27 at halftime before the teams battled back and forth throughout the second half. With 27 seconds to go, Dwayne Cohill gave the Penguins a 75-72 advantage on a pair of free throws.

But as he had throughout the second half, D’Moi Hodge put the Vikings (10-3, 6-0) back in the mix. Hodge sank a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Deante Johnson with 14 seconds to go to tie the game up, and then scored eight of CSU’s 11 points in overtime as the Vikings held on.

Hodge finished with a game-high 31 points, 27 of which came after halftime. He connected on five of 10 3-point attempts and went 11-for-18 from the field.

“Great player. He’s really good. The guy had like 50 in a game last year (it was 46 against Purdue Fort Wayne). He’s the ultimate X-factor,” Calhoun said. “He spaces the floor because he can shoot it over halfcourt. He’s got deep range and made a huge shot on an offensive rebound.”

And it was offensive rebounds that were the other thorn in the Penguins’ collective side. Cleveland State snagged 22 offensive boards and outrebounded Youngstown State 48-32 overall. The Vikings parlayed those boards into 24 second-chance points.

That advantage down low also showed in scoring, as CSU outscored YSU 48-22 in the paint.

Cohill nearly won the game for the Penguins at the end of regulation, as he drove hard to the basket. However, his layup rimmed off.

The transfer from Dayton was a steady presence for the Penguins throughout the day, though, as he connected on five of 13 attempts, went 8-for-8 at the charity stripe and finished with 19 points.

Shemar Rathan-Mayes was hot from the field, too, sinking seven of nine attempts and connecting on three treys to score a career-high 21 points. Tevin Olison added 15 points for YSU.

In overtime, YSU trailed 82-76 with 2:15 to go, but rallied back to within two points after Michael Akuchie and Olison each hit a layup. Then, the Penguins had a pair of opportunities to tie the game after forcing back-to-back Viking turnovers.

However, the first of those ended with a pass out of bounds and the other in a missed layup. Hodge closed the game out from there with a pair of free throws and a final layup.

“I feel bad for my guys. I thought they battled their tails off; I thought they deserved to win the game. We were one possession away,” Calhoun said. “But hopefully it shows the guys where we can hopefully try to end up.”

YSU, which has lost three of its four games since the start of the new year, will look to get back on track this week with another pair of home games. Northern Kentucky comes to town Thursday, and then the Penguins host Wright State on Saturday.

They’ll do so without the services of Luke Chicone for the foreseeable future, as the freshman guard broke his hand, according to Calhoun. The coach added that the injury will get evaluated again in three weeks, but that YSU doesn’t think it will require surgery.

“You got to win games; you got to find a way to win,” Calhoun said. “So we got to set a little bit higher standard for ourselves and try to regroup.”

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com

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