Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU's Tae Blackshear finishes up and under the basket while getting fouled by Cleveland State's Chevalier Emery on Wednesday night at Zidian Family Arena.

YOUNGSTOWN — In recent games, Youngstown State has had success when the offense has been connected and flowing.

Entering Wednesday’s contest, the Penguins were averaging 87.3 points per game in their last four Horizon League wins.

That continued against Cleveland State, as YSU made a staggering 63% of its shots while scoring its most points in a Horizon League game with a 106-82 victory over the Vikings at Zidian Family Arena.

“Thought we played really well offensively. Thought we really shared the ball,” YSU head coach Ethan Faulkner said. “This was a game that certainly called for us to try to attack them inside against their switching defenses. Thought we did a really good job of that. Really shared the basketball, 21 assists on 33 made baskets, that’s always a recipe for success.”

In addition to its overall shooting percentage, the Penguins (14-14, 7-10 Horizon) also knocked down 14 3-pointers at a 63% clip. Cris Carroll led the team with 26 points as five players finished in double figures.

Against CSU’s (10-18, 6-11 Horizon) defense, the Penguins were aggressive down low and took advantage in the post, forcing the Vikings into 26 total fouls, which YSU turned into 26-of-34 at the charity stripe.

“If you go back and you evaluate why we have success offensively when we do, it’s not hard to point your finger to why we do it,” Faulkner said. “Obviously when the shots go in, that’s great. But usually when you share the basketball, you get the quality of shots that we’ve got in those games. We’ve got good enough shooters where we’re going to make a pretty high percentage.”

At halftime, YSU led Cleveland State 52-38, its most points scored in the first half this season.

A lot of that was thanks to Vlad Salaridze. He’s had his ups and downs this season, but against the Vikings, he came off the bench to provide a spark for the Penguins, finishing with a season-high 24 points, which included 15 points in the first half.

“For me, it’s like a game-to-game basis based on what’s needed from me. Today, from early on, I had it going,” Salaridze said. “So my teammates trusted me with shots, and I was able to knock those down.”

Coming off a perfect 9-for-9 performance against Detroit Mercy on Sunday, Tae Blackshear continued his recent resurgence against CSU by scoring 18 points.

Blackshear has now scored in double figures five times in the last six games after reaching that mark just four times in the previous 22 games.

“Tae continues to make major improvements on both sides of the ball. He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Faulkner said. “Early in the year, we knew that at some point, he was going to get going. He was a much better offensive player than he was playing like. Now he’s got that confidence from a few games in a row where he’s played really well. I think he’s going to continue to grow as a basketball player over the next two or three weeks and into the future in our program.”

Bryson Dawkins and Rich Rolf rounded out YSU’s double-figure scorers with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

On the flip side, Jaidon Lipscomb had a career day for the Vikings, finishing with 32 points. Outside of its 14 made threes, he was CSU’s primary offensive threat for most of the night and helped the Vikings keep the Penguins within arm’s reach until YSU pulled away in the second half.

“That guy has an incredible ability to make really difficult shots, especially if you give him a couple easy ones early in the game and he gets going,” Faulkner said. “He’s got good size and he’s got a quick trigger. He can make shots off balance and he can make shots off the catch. He had an excellent performance.”

With just three games left in the regular season, Salaridze mentioned that the Penguins are treating every game like a conference tournament game at this point.

The league standings are tight, so every game matters for seeding. The win broke YSU’s tie with CSU and lifted the Penguins into a tie for eighth in the Horizon League standings with Milwaukee at 7-10. Both the Penguins and Panthers are two games behind Northern Kentucky and Purdue Fort Wayne at 9-8.

“We came into this game against a formidable opponent with a mindset that we’re playing a conference tournament game,” Salaridze said. “Right now, it’s on. That’s the mindset going into every single game and we’re trying to stack them before the conference tournament.”

Sunday’s 2 p.m. tip against Northern Kentucky is YSU’s final home game of the regular season.

“Obviously this will be the last time that (the players) get to play in front of our fans,” Faulkner said. “All those guys have made lasting impressions on each other, on our coaching staff and on our program. We gotta prepare the right way — we’ll take tomorrow off, prepare the right way on Friday and Saturday and send those guys out the right way.”