Detroit -- Detroit outscored the Youngstown State men's basketball team 18-6 over the final eight minutes of the first half and held off a late charge to win 91-79 on Wednesday evening at Calihan Hall.
YSU's largest deficit was 23 with 16 minutes remaining, but the Guins trimmed that down to 15 with 12:25 left. The margin was eventually down to nine with 2:17 left following a 17-7 run, but that's as close as the Guins would get.
Damian Eargle matched a career high with 25 points, and the sophomore forward added 11 rebounds and five blocks. All three of those stats were game highs as well.
The Penguins trailed just 30-25 with 8:04 remaining in the first half, but they had just two more field goals the rest of the period and missed its final six attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. That helped Detroit take a 48-31 lead at halftime.
Detroit improved to 15-14 overall and 9-8 in Horizon League play while YSU fell to 8-18 and 2-14.
The Penguins shot 36.8 percent for the game and were just 7-for-35 beyond the 3-point arc. Ironically, YSU broke the previous school record for 3-pointers in a season when Ashen Ward hit a triple with 14:29 remaining in the first period. The Penguins now have 206 treys on the season, surpassing the previous mark of 199 set during the 1997-98 season.
Detroit shot 47.5 percent overall and 57.1 percent in the first half. Five players scored in double figures, led by 24 points from Nick Minnerath. Ray McCallum added 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Through 10 minutes, neither team led by more than four, and the game featured five ties and four lead changes. Dan Boudler's free throw gave the Penguins a 15-11 advantage with 13:52 on the clock. Detroit went on a 9-2 run to go up 20-17 on a Nick Mick Minnerath bucket, but a three-point play by Eargle tied the score at 20-20 with 10:57 left.
Detroit went on an 8-0 run to go up 30-21, and, after YSU cut it to 30-25, the Titans scored seven straight points to take a 37-25 advantage. A Blake Allen lay-up cut the deficit to 10 with just under four minutes left, but Detroit hit three triples in the final 2:17 of the half to take a 48-31 lead at halftime.
The Titans led 75-56 with 8:16 remaining, but that's when YSU made its run. DuShawn Brooks and Eargle had four points apiece, and Kendrick Perry hit a triple with 2:17 to get the margin to single digits for the first time of the period at 82-73. Perry missed the front end of a one-and-one on YSU's next possession, and he missed a 3-pointer with 1:34 left that would have cut the game to two possessions. Detroit went on to score six of the next nine points.
Youngstown State returns to Beeghly Center to face Bowling Green on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters.
