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RICHMOND, Ky. – Four Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball players finished in double figures as the host Colonels defeated Youngstown State Saturday evening in McBrayer Arena, 61-50. Eastern (3-4) snapped its four game losing skid and held the Penguins (3-3) to their lowest point total of the season.

Senior Darnell Dialls paced the Colonels with a season-best 17 points on 66.7 percent (8-of-12) shooting from the floor. Junior Mike Rose added 12 points, 11 of which came in the second half, while senior Jamaal Douglas and sophomore Adam Leonard combined for 20 points.

For Youngstown State, Jack Liles posted his highest point (18) and rebound (10) totals of the year on the way to a double-double.

Eastern Kentucky led from start to finish as the home squad tallied the first six points of the contest. A put-back dunk by Douglas gave EKU its first double-digit advantage with 8:37 remaining in the half, 20-10. The Penguins were able to slice the deficit to five later in the period, but the Colonels responded with seven of the final nine points before intermission to take a 29-19 lead into halftime.

Youngstown State battled back to within five points early in the second half before a Rose three-pointer and breakaway dunk from freshman Justin Stommes reestablished a double-digit Colonel lead. Eastern maintained a comfortable cushion the rest of the way and built its biggest lead of 15 points, 54-39, with six minutes left.

After being outrebounded by 20 boards in their last contest, the Colonels won the battle on the glass over the Penguins, 35-33. Douglas led the way with a season-high nine rebounds while Dialls added eight boards.

This was the first meeting between the two teams at Eastern Kentucky since 1988. Youngstown State was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference from 1981-88. These two squads met last year in Youngstown as part of the ESPNU Bracket Buster series.

The Colonels next open conference play at Murray State on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Tip time is set for 8 p.m.