TOLEDO, OH – Toledo bounced back from a loss in its Mid-American Conference opener with a convincing 84-67 triumph over Akron (10-5, 1-1 MAC) on Friday evening in Savage Arena.
The Rockets (9-6, 1-1 MAC) shot 56.3 percent from the field, including a sizzling 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from behind the three-point arc. That long-distance accuracy was UT’s best ever in a conference contest and the second-best in school history.
Senior forward J.D. Weatherspoon paced a balanced Rockets attack with 17 points. He was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Jonathan Williams (15 pts., career-high six boards), senior guard Julius Brown (14 pts.) and senior guard Justin Drummond (13 pts.)
Drummond and junior center Nathan Boothe each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to help Toledo control the glass by a 35-27 margin.
Akron (10-5, 1-1) had just two players in double figures. Nyles Evans led the way with 13 points, followed by Pat Forsythe with 10.
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The Rockets (9-6, 1-1 MAC) shot 56.3 percent from the field, including a sizzling 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from behind the three-point arc. That long-distance accuracy was UT’s best ever in a conference contest and the second-best in school history.
Senior forward J.D. Weatherspoon paced a balanced Rockets attack with 17 points. He was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Jonathan Williams (15 pts., career-high six boards), senior guard Julius Brown (14 pts.) and senior guard Justin Drummond (13 pts.)
Drummond and junior center Nathan Boothe each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to help Toledo control the glass by a 35-27 margin.
Akron (10-5, 1-1) had just two players in double figures. Nyles Evans led the way with 13 points, followed by Pat Forsythe with 10.
(CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE . . . )
UT’s aggressiveness on the offensive end resulted in a season-high 32 free-throw attempts, over twice as many as the Zips’ 15 trips to the charity stripe.
The Rockets limited Akron to 40.4 FG percent and a 29.6 three-point FG perfent (8-of-27), including 2-of-12 from long range in the final 20 minutes.
Akron jumped out to an early 11-5 advantage thanks to a trio of three-pointers, but UT tallied eight in a row to take its first lead of 13-11. The lead then changed hands six more times before the Rockets ended the half with a 9-2 burst. Weatherspoon tallied seven points during that stretch, including a buzzer-beating 30-footer to give UT a 37-34 lead at halftime.
The Rockets carried that momentum into the second stanza with six more points and a 43-34 cushion. UT gained its first double-digit lead, 51-41, on a Williams’ trey with 14:28 to play.
The Zips were able to reduce their deficit to four points on two separate occasions but couldn’t come any closer. Toledo ended any hopes of an Akron comeback with a 10-2 burst that was capped off by another Williams’ three-pointer for a 71-57 lead with 6:25 left.
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 with a trip to Athens, OH to battle Ohio University at 7:00 p.m. The Bobcats will play at Bowling Green on Saturday before returning home.
(Courtesy of Toledo Athletics/MRO Edit)
The Rockets limited Akron to 40.4 FG percent and a 29.6 three-point FG perfent (8-of-27), including 2-of-12 from long range in the final 20 minutes.
Akron jumped out to an early 11-5 advantage thanks to a trio of three-pointers, but UT tallied eight in a row to take its first lead of 13-11. The lead then changed hands six more times before the Rockets ended the half with a 9-2 burst. Weatherspoon tallied seven points during that stretch, including a buzzer-beating 30-footer to give UT a 37-34 lead at halftime.
The Rockets carried that momentum into the second stanza with six more points and a 43-34 cushion. UT gained its first double-digit lead, 51-41, on a Williams’ trey with 14:28 to play.
The Zips were able to reduce their deficit to four points on two separate occasions but couldn’t come any closer. Toledo ended any hopes of an Akron comeback with a 10-2 burst that was capped off by another Williams’ three-pointer for a 71-57 lead with 6:25 left.
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 with a trip to Athens, OH to battle Ohio University at 7:00 p.m. The Bobcats will play at Bowling Green on Saturday before returning home.
(Courtesy of Toledo Athletics/MRO Edit)
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