The Youngstown State men's basketball team used a solid all-around effort to pick up a 99-58 win over Geneva on Tuesday night at the Beeghly Center. YSU shot 58.2 percent from the field and had 28 steals in the contest.
With the win, YSU improves to 5-6 on the season while Geneva falls to 0-8.
Leading the way offensively was Sidney Umude who finished with a career-high 21 points. Umude was one of four Penguins reach double figures against the Golden Tornadoes. Matt Donlan had 15 points, Cameron Morse had 14 and Bryce Nickels added 10.
Umude was was 7-of-9 from field and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line. Donlan was 6-of-9 for the game, including 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Jordan Andrews had six steals to lead the defensive effort. Umude, Francisco Santiago, Latin Davis and Morse each had four steals on the night.
YSU made its first seven field-goal attempts of the second half and scored the first 17 points of the period to seize control and never looked back.
The lead surpassed 30 for the first time when Umude scored at the 17:23 mark to put the Penguins ahead 61-30, and a Andrews steal and bucket put the Penguins ahead 72-32 with 15:09 remaining. YSU's biggest lead of the night was 86-43.
The 28 steals were just two shy of the school mark of 30 set against Central State on Dec. 15, 1997.
YSU made 39-of-67 shots from the field (58.2 percent) and the bench contributed 41. The Guins had 44 points off turnovers and scored on the fast break.
In the first half, the Penguins shot 61.3 percent and limited the Golden Tornadoes to just 38.2 percent from the floor. However, the Penguins committed 10 turnovers that ledto 10 points for Geneva. YSU also forced 11 Geneva turnovers and scored 18 points off of those miscues.
Umude scored 15 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting from the field while Donlan made 4-of-5 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Penguins made seven of their first 10 shots to take an 18-4 lead less than seven minutes into the game. Umude had a quick six points and Donlan hit two 3-pointers and dunk to spark the early run.
Geneva made just two of its first 11 field-goal attempts but cut deficit to 20-8 at the 12:26 mark. YSU's fourth 3-pointer in the first 10 minutes put the Penguins up 26-8, and YSU upped its lead to 20 on a Davis steal and layup with 10:15 left.
Geneva missed its first 10 attempts from 3-point range, but its first of the game by Jordan Lawrence with 9:23 left sparked a 13-0 run that got the Golden Tornadoes with six at 29-23 with 5:47 left.
YSU answered with an 11-0 run that Brett Frantz capped with a 3-pointer at the 3:53 mark, and YSU led 49-30 at the intermission. The 49 points marked a first-half scoring high for the Penguins.
Youngstown State visits Michigan, Saturday, Dec. 19. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
