So last night’s whole thing started ’cause my buddy Dave texts me yelling “YOUNGSTOWN STATE’S GONNA DESTROY CHICAGO STATE!” outta nowhere. Figured hell, why not watch the game? Fired up the stream expecting one team to just wipe the floor with the other. Spoiler: things got weird.
The Setup Was Classic
Grabbed beers straight from the fridge, plopped down on the couch around 7 PM right before tip-off. Youngstown looked solid warming up – big dudes moving quick. Chicago State? Smaller, kinda skittish. Thought to myself, “Dave ain’t wrong, this might get ugly fast.” Whole damn stadium felt like they agreed, screaming for Youngstown right from the jump.
First Half Disaster
And yeah, Youngstown came out swinging. Their guard, #5 – dude’s got moves. Slashed right through Chicago State like they were standing still. Easy buckets every trip down. Chicago State? Couldn’t hit water if they fell outta boat. Every shot bounced off the rim like it owed ’em money. Score ballooned quick. I took a long pull on my beer.
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First Half Highlights (Or Lowlights):
- Youngstown up by 22 points with like 3 minutes left. Cruising.
- Chicago State coach looked like his dog died. Angry timeout, yelling at the bench.
- Youngstown crowd chanting “OVERRATED!” at Chicago State. Ouch.
Halftime hit. Youngstown State was sitting pretty at 45-25. Switched to a quick ad. Went to pee, thinking “Game’s over before the party even started.” Got another beer. Settled back in.
Second Half… WTF Happened?!
Came back, camera pans. Chicago State’s team huddle looked different. Seriously. Just looked meaner. And then? Those guys walked back out and turned into maniacs. Suddenly they were everywhere.
Defense went insane. Switched to some zone press I ain’t seen before, just smothering Youngstown. Youngstown started turning it over left and right. Passes straight to Chicago State players! My jaw kinda dropped when Chicago State’s #10 drained a three. Then another. Crowd got real quiet. Youngstown seemed frozen. Coach scrambling for timeouts.
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Second Half Swerve:
- Chicago State cut the lead to 10 points in like 4 minutes flat.
- Youngstown’s #5 couldn’t buy a bucket. Looked lost.
- Chicago State players started crashing the boards like their careers depended on it.
Whole energy flipped. Youngstown just couldn’t break this funk. Missed free throws, stupid fouls, bricking wide open shots. Chicago State kept chipping away. With 2 minutes left? One possession game. Chicago State gets the ball back after a Youngstown turnover… huge chance… and bricks a wide-open layup. Ball slips out. You could hear the air deflate outta that gym for Chicago State. Youngstown finally made a clutch free throw. Held on.
Final Count: Head Scratcher
Youngstown State wins, 72-68. But that felt like a loss for them and maybe a win for Chicago State even though they lost. Youngstown looked dominant, then forgot how to play basketball for 15 straight minutes. Chicago State looked DOA, then turned into the Monstars.
Whole damn thing was a hot mess. Proof you gotta watch the whole game ’cause weirdness happens. Dave texted me “Told you!” Dude gets a participation trophy at best tonight.
