YSU men fall to NKU on the road

Junior Juwan Maxey scored a game-high 26 points and Ty Harper poured in a career-high 21 points, but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped an 88-79 decision to Northern Kentucky on Saturday at Truist Arena.

The Penguins trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half and cut the lead down to four twice with under two minutes left before the Norse answered with a 3-pointer and four free throws in the game’s final minute to seal the victory.

Youngstown State (19-12, 13-7 Horizon League) made 14 3-pointers led by Maxey’s five 3s and Harper’s four. Cris Carroll added 14 points for the Penguins

Leading the Norse (16-15, 11-9) was Trey Robinson with 24 points and Josh Dilling with 23 points and seven 3-pointers.

Northern Kentucky used a 20-3 run the first half to erase a 25-20 YSU advantage and take a 40-28 lead with 2:50 left before halftime.

Youngstown State was able to trim that deficit to 43-35 at the intermission

The Norse built its lead to a game-high 19 points, 60-41, after a Dilling 3-pointer at the 14:14 mark.

Three free throws from Maxey, one by Harper, two more from Maxey and a layup by Jason Nelson got the Penguins back within 11, 60-49.

NKU rebuilt its lead back to 18, 67-49, midway through the second 20 minutes of play.

A 16-7 run over the next five minutes keyed by 3-pointers by Harper and Nelson cut the Penguins deficit to 74-65.

Youngstown State used another 10-5 spurt sparked by a Maxey 3-pointer and capped by one from Carroll brought the Penguins’ deficit to 79-75 with 1:59 to go.

The teams traded baskets before the Norse scored seven of the next nine points to seal the victory.

Youngstown State earned the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship and will host the No. 5 seed Purdue Fort Wayne in a quarterfinal game on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Beeghly Center.

YSU indoor track teams win HL

The Youngstown State men’s track and field team won its 10th consecutive Horizon League Indoor Championship with a dominant performance over the weekend at the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse on the campus of Purdue Fort Wayne.

The Penguins scored 227.5 points to outdistance Milwaukee (127), Oakland (104) and Fort Wayne (95).

Winning events on the final day of competition were Luke Laubacher (60m Hurdles) and Ryan Meadows (3,000m). Laubacher won his third straight 60m hurdles title while Meadows won his second straight 3,000m title.

YSU had another group garner a multitude of second-place performances: Brandon Hutchinson (heptathlon), Nathan Leskovac (high jump), Jaden Kirkwood (shot put), Aaron Berardinelli (triple jump), Micah Mitchell (60m hurdles), Trenton Shutters (800m) and Ryan Meadows (3,000m).

Meanwhile, the YSU program returned to the top of the indoor podium with an all-around effort over the weekend.

The Penguins scored 152 points to outdistance host Purdue Fort Wayne (135), Milwaukee (123) and Oakland (79). Overall, Youngstown State has won a Horizon League-best 13 team titles dating back to 2004. YSU has been first or second in every meet since 2013.

Picking up a win on the final day for the Guins was Esther Solarin in the triple jump. Solarin won both the triple and long jump. YSU had another group garner second-place performances: McKinley Fielding (mile), Nia Williams-Matthews (triple jump) and Mariah Day (60m hurdles).

Award Winners

Men’s Coach of The Year – Brian Gorby

Men’s Championship Outstanding Performer/Field – Brandon Hutchinson, Luke Laubacher

Women’s Championship Outstanding Performer/Field: Esther Solarin

Bell picks up 2nd straight victory

AUSTIN, Texas — Christopher Bell passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go, then held off Daytona 500 winner William Byron to win NASCAR’s first road course race of the season at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.

Bell raced to his second consecutive victory after an overtime win in Atlanta a week ago.

Once Bell cleared Busch, the Oklahoma drover had to make a desperate bid to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front of hard-charging Byron in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and 2023 race winner Tyler Reddick of 23X1 Racing’s Toyota.

Bell is a multiple race winner for the fourth consecutive season. Busch, who led 43 of 95 laps in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, faded to fifth as his winless streak stretched to 60 races dating to 2023.

“These road courses races are just so much fun,” Bell said. “(Busch) was doing such a good job running his race He bobbled and allowed me to get out front. When he did, I just said don’t beat yourself.”

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, started third and quickly dropped to the back when he spun by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in the first turn, but fought his way back through the field to fourth.

Cup Series debutante Connor Zilisch had a wild day in his debut. The 18-year-old started 14th, quickly dropped back with contact in the first lap, but fought back to the top 15 by the start of the third stage.

But that’s when his day ended. Zilisch couldn’t avoid a spin by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez and smashed into the wall in lap 50 and his car caught fire.

Series future at COTA

NASCAR has to decide if it will return to Austin in 2026. The track has proven popular over the years with drivers, and has hosted F1 since 2012 and MotoGP since 2013. Speedway Motorsports rents the facility for race week, and track President Bobby Epstein has said he’d like to continue the partnership.

Up next

The Cup Series returns to ovals next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.