YSU wins third straight
Olison, Cohill lead Penguins past MAC’s Central Michigan
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Tevin Olison dominated the first half, Dwayne Cohill picked up where Olison left off in the second, and Youngstown State earned its third straight victory Wednesday night, an 84-77 non-league win over Central Michigan.
Olison poured in 17 of his game-high 21 points prior to halftime, while Cohill scored 10 in each half en route to a season-high 20 points.
The win over CMU (1-8) marks the first time the Penguins (5-3) have defeated a Mid-American Conference school under head coach Jerrod Calhoun. It also brought YSU's record to 5-0 when it scores at least 70 points in a game.
"In the last five years, we've not beaten a MAC school. So we're excited about it," Calhoun said.
YSU was hot from the field out of the gates and maintained it the entire night, connecting on 32-of-57 field goals and 11-of-23 shots from beyond the arc.
The Penguins initially grabbed a 46-34 halftime lead on an 18-of-27 performance in the first half, which included a blistering 6-of-9 mark from downtown, led by Olison's trio of treys.
Cohill, meanwhile, made his mark mostly on drives to the basket, though he hit a pair of second-half triples that helped YSU maintain its lead.
"In the last couple games, we've been moving the ball better and sharing it together as a team," Cohill said. "Everybody's been touching the ball, and I think our offense has been probably the best it's been all season in the last couple games."
The teams battled evenly out of the gates, as CMU took a 10-9 lead on an Oscar Lopez Jr. free throw. Lopez finished with 21 for the Chippewas.
That, however, was CMU's final lead of the night, as YSU went on a tear.
Leading 28-24 with 7:37 to play in the half, the Penguins went on an 11-0 run. Chris Shelton hit a 3-pointer, and then Cohill hit a jumper to push the advantage to 33-24. Then, Olison hit a jumper of his own, followed by a Michael Akuchie layup. Akuchie also scored in double figures, netting 13 points.
The run concluded with an Olison steal-and-score, which he finished off with a thunderous one-hand slam.
"You know, we did not score the basketball the last time our fans saw us play. ... So we have to build off of this," Calhoun said.
The Chippewas rallied back into the mix to begin the second half, as a quick spurt out of the intermission put CMU back to within six, 50-44. That came following back-to-back buckets from Lopez, a jumper in the paint and then a trey.
The closest Central Michigan came to closing the gap was four points, a 60-56 deficit with 11:12 to play. That rally, however, was stemmed after Jamir Thomas converted a big and-1 to push the lead back out to seven.
Thomas finished with five points and four rebounds on what was a solid night off the bench for the forward. He did, however, miss a rare 3-point try.
"He gave us great minutes," Calhoun said, before joking, "I said, 'Jamir, you go in there, you get five points, four rebounds, and now all of a sudden you want to launch a shot!' But he got it up there. I'm happy for our guys, and I'm happy for the fans."
What Calhoun wasn't happy with, however, was the team's defense. The 77 points YSU allowed were the second-most a team has put on the Penguins. SEMO scored 79 when YSU won in Missouri, 97-79.
"We didn't guard the ball. Defense starts with guarding the basketball and then starts off the ball. And, you know, Lopez really made shots," Calhoun noted. "… We just have to clean some things up. We'll have a look at the tape and come in with a mindset of, 'Hey, we won the game, but let's play better' and just have that growth mindset. I think that's the key with young teams and new teams is how do you get these guys better day in and day out."
YSU now turns its attention to another non-league foe, as Canisius comes to the Beeghly Center on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game.