VIDEO: Highlights | Postgame Press Conference

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State rallied from a 16 point deficit, but Youngstown State's Cameron Morse hit a three-pointer with six-tenths of a second to play to give the Penguins an 80-77 win over the Vikings in the Horizon League opener for both teams on Monday in the Wolstein Center.

STAT LEADERS

• Bobby Word led the Vikings with a game-high 24 points, his second straight 20-point game.
• Word hit 9-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-pointers.
• Kenny Carpenter scored 12 points.
• Kasheem Thomas added 11 points and six assists.
• Anthony Wright tallied six points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

COACH SPEAK

• "We started the game too soft and didn't play with enough toughness or physicality. We stepped up the tenacity over the last five minutes of the first half and got some stops early in the second half to get back in the game. We did well to battle back and tie the game, but came up just short because of a great shot by a great player."
   – Head Coach Dennis Felton

FIRST HALF RECAP

• Carpenter started the scoring with a jumper in the lane, but YSU answered with 13 straight points to take a 13-2 lead five minutes in.
• The Penguins led by as many as 16 points in the first half, the final time coming with 4:43 to play (37-21).
• CSU answered with an 8-2 run to pull within nine points (39-30) with 1:30 to play.
• YSU led at halftime, 43-32.

SECOND HALF RECAP

• The Vikings opened the second half on a 9-2 run to slice the YSU lead to four points (45-41) early in the second half.
• CSU got all the way within one point (54-53) midway through the second half on a three-pointer by Tyree Appleby, but YSU answered with four straight points to build a five point advantage.
• A layup from Word brought CSU back within three (63-60) with just under seven minutes to play, but the Penguins hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead back to nine points with five minutes to play.
• CSU began to chip away down the stretch and finally tied the game at 77-77 on a Word three-pointer with nine seconds to play. Word scored nine points in the final 49 seconds of the game on a pair of threes and a three-point play.
• Morse took the inbounds pass and made his way up court, hitting the game-winning shot with 0.6 seconds to play.

KEY STATS

• CSU tied its season-low with 10 turnovers. The Vikings also had just 10 miscues on Friday at Michigan State.
• The Vikings hit 27-of-59 (.458) from the field, including 11-of-28 (.393) from three-point.
• YSU finished 31-of-55 (.564) from the field and made 10-of-20 (.500) threes.
• Both teams received solid bench contributions with YSU getting 27 bench points and the CSU bench posting 23 points.

UP NEXT

• The Vikings close out a three-game homestand to open Horizon League play with a pair of games this week.
• CSU hosts Green Bay on Thursday (Jan. 4) at 7:00 pm and Milwaukee on Saturday (Jan. 6) at 3:30 pm.
• Both games will be doubleheaders with the CSU women's squad hosting IUPUI on Thursday at 4:00 pm and UIC on Saturday at 1:00 pm.