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Penguins visit CSU for two on weekend

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team will play its second straight two-game road series in the Horizon League when it faces Cleveland State today and Sunday — both at 1 p.m. (WKBN 570-AM) — at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.

The back-to-back series scheduling is an attempt by the league to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Penguins (4-1 overall) opened Horizon play last weekend with a split of two games at Northern Kentucky. Cleveland State (2-3) swept Purdue Fort Wayne on the road last weekend.

“Cleveland State is a team that is very good, they know their identity, they are going to play very hard and they play a lot of guys,” YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun said in his midweek media conference. “It’s another road game for us. We’ve got eight out of our first 10 league games on the road.

“It’s always difficult, whether there are fans or not, to win on the road.”

Youngstown State has four players averaging in double figures in scoring: Naz Bohannon, 19.0; Darius Quisenberry, 14.0; Michael Akuchie, 12.2; and Shemar Rathan-Mayes, 12.2. Akuchie (8.8 rpg) and Bohannon (8.0) lead the Penguins in rebounds.

Quisenberry, a junior, reached the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier this season. He is the 38th Penguin to hit the milestone and the third fastest YSU Division I player to reach 1,000.

Bohannon and fellow senior Garrett Covington both are nearing the 1,000-point plateau. Bohannon is at 900 points and Covington at 883.

D’Moi Hodge is averaging 25.5 points per game for Cleveland State and Torrey Patton is at 13.0 ppg.

“They are a very big team, they are long, they are athletic,” Calhoun said about the Vikings. “They do a good job of changing their defenses, so you’ve got to have flow, you’ve got to have rhythm.”

Cleveland State’s non-conference losses this season have been to Ohio State, Ohio and Toledo.

The YSU-CSU series dates back to 1930 and the Vikings own a 51-44 advantage. YSU won the last meeting, 67-55, on Feb. 8 at the Beeghly Center.

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