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YOUNGSTOWN - Youngstown State came into Wednesday's game with every intention of showing Kent State and the collegiate basketball world how this team has vastly improved.

For 29 minutes, the Penguins did just that.

Then, the Golden Flashes went on a 13-0 run to thwart any hopes of a YSU upset of one of the perennial favorites in the Mid-American Conference as Kent State pulled away for a 70-61 victory at Beeghly Center.

YSU was its own worst enemy as it committed 19 turnovers and Kent State had 14 offensive rebounds.

"You're not going to beat a good basketball team by doing that," said YSU coach Jerry Slocum, whose team is 1-2.

DeAndre Mays' jumper tied the game at 40 with 11 minutes, 14 seconds left before KSU went on its 13-0 run.

For the Golden Flashes (3-1), who were coming off a heartbreaking overtime home loss to Green Bay Sunday at the Memorial Athletic Convocation Center, they won against this Horizon League team Wednesday.

The YSU game was a break from the Hispanic College Fund Classic KSU is hosting. The Golden Flashes went 2-0 to open the tournament against Samford and UAB before falling to Green Bay on Sunday.

Kent State coach Geno Ford said it wasn't the break one would think. His team was off Monday and didn't have a full practice since it was day before a game.

"Youngstown, I thought, did a good job bothering us not only on the perimeter, but on the post," Ford said. "I thought those guys were active and quick and beat us to spots.

"We were fortunate they didn't shoot the ball great, early. It allowed us to stay in the zone because we couldn't guard them man-to-man."

Tyree Evans led KSU with 18 points. Justin Green, Rodriquez Sherman and Anthony Simpson were in double figures with 17, 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Vytas Sulskis and Sirlester Martin each paced YSU with 15 points. Mays had 14 points.

The Penguins cut the lead to 58-49 on Mays' rebound and subsequent putback with 2:49 left. However, it was too little, too late for YSU.

Sulskis and Eddie D'Haiti both fouled out prior Mays' basket.

"Vytas was a very important part of our game," Slocum said. "To lose Vytas like that, especially on foolish fouls, that cost us."

YSU even made another slice into the KSU lead later in the game as Martin's 3 with 1:04 left chopped the Golden Flashes' advantage to 61-55.

Sherman's two free throws with 55.4 seconds left boosted KSU up to a 63-52 lead. Later, Sherman's steal and slam sealed the game with 34.1 seconds left - giving KSU a 65-57 lead.

"Rod had the exclamation mark, the play of the game," Ford said. "We have never had a guy who is as proficient driving it, shooting spot up jumpers and yet guarding and rebounding. He's just all over the place. He plays with recklessness and stuffs the stat sheet. If you playing the point guard spot and get 15 (points), 5 (rebounds), 5 (assists) and 3 (steals), you were obviously everywhere and doing a lot of things. That's his game.

"He just finds a way to help you win."

In the end, it was a matter of converting on free throws for YSU. The Penguins were 10-of-16 from the line in the final 10 minutes - including a couple of 0-of-2 trips to the line.

"We miss free throws like that we count that as a turnover," Slocum said. "When you come down with an empty offensive possession, have the ball and go to the foul line and miss two, that's a turnover. You're not going to beat a good basketball team like they are by doing those kinds of things. That was very disappointing."

However, KSU shot 15-of-20 from the stripe in the last 10 minutes. The Golden Flashes were 6-of-10 before that.

"The disappointing thing was the guys that missed them was our best shooters," Ford said. "We had guys miss front ends of one-and-ones where we could've went in (at half) up 10 instead of six. Late, guys made them and kept it a comfortable enough lead the way we were turning it over and hard as they were competing on defense. We were lucky to keep the lead safe at that point."

KSU finishes its part in the Hispanic College Fund Classic Sunday against Rochester College. Tipoff at the M.A.C. Center is at 2 p.m.

The Penguins' next game is Saturday as they travel to St. Peter's (N.J.) - a return visit from last year's ESPN BracketBuster contest. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.

jvargo@tribtoday.com