VIDEO: Highlights
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Demonte Flannigan scored 18 points and Rob Edwards added 16 points, but Cleveland State dropped a 70-55 decision to Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon in a Horizon League contest at Quicken Loans Arena.
CSU slipped to 7-14 overall and 2-6 in the Horizon League, while the Penguins improved to 8-13 overall (3-5 HL).
Flannigan added six rebounds for the Vikings, while Andre Yates finished with seven points and four assists. Tim Hasbargen added a career-high nine rebounds.
Matt Donlon led the Penguins with 16 points - all in the first half - and Francisco Santiago added 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
"They hit our Achilles heel today," head coach Gary Waters said. "We couldn't shoot the ball and they played that zone well. They executed it and it really stymied us. We didn't attack the basket and we turned the ball over way too much."
"I felt we had taken some big steps with our last two
The Penguins scored seven of the first nine points to open a quick 7-2 lead just four minutes in and force a CSU timeout. The Vikings responded with a 14-2 run out of the stoppage to take their largest lead of the half (16-9) on a Tim Hasbargen tip-in.
YSU came right back, taking a 27-25 lead with just under four minutes to play in the half when Donlon knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the half and the Penguins rode a 35-31 lead into halftime.
The Vikings pulled within one point several times early in the second half and were within two (42-40) with 13:21 to play, but YSU used a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes to take its largest lead of the game (58-42) on a Cameron Morse three-pointer.
The Vikings return to action on Thursday (Jan. 28) when CSU travels to Valparaiso for an 8:00 pm ET contest to close out the first round of Horizon League play.