Toledo 80, Oakland 53
Ohio 84, North Carolina A&T 72
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Toledo 80, Oakland 53
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Senior Spencer Littleson buried a career-high eight three-point field goals on his way to 24 points to lead Toledo to a dominating 80-53 triumph over Oakland on Thursday afternoon in its second game of the Xavier Invitational.
Littleson's eight three-pointers were one shy of the school record held by Kent Murphree on Nov. 24, 1991. Toledo also nearly tied the school mark for three-pointers in a game with its 16 triples, one away from the record vs. Wright State on Dec. 22, 2003.
"I thought we started the game out well on the defensive end and that really set the tone for us," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk about the Rockets limiting Oakland to a 31.4 field-goal percentage. "Spencer made shots and defended very well. He's our heart and soul out there."
Freshman Ryan Rollins (17 pts.), senior Marreon Jackson (12 pts.) and junior Setric Millner Jr. (11 pts.) joined Littleson in double digits for a second-straight outing. Jackson also dished out a team-high eight assists and helped the Rockets register an impressive 25 helpers on their 28 field goals.
Toledo controlled the glass as well with a 45-30 advantage over the Golden Grizzlies. Millner Jr. grabbed a team-best nine boards with junior Jonathan Komagum and sophomore AJ Edu collecting eight apiece.
Champaign, Ill. – Led by a career-high 22 points from sophomore forward Ben Roderick, the Ohio Bobcats (2-0) picked up a Thanksgiving Day victory, defeating North Carolina A&T (0-2), 84-72, inside State Farm Center on the campus of Illinois.
"We're really happy to get the win," second year head coach Jeff Boals said. "We talk about adversity all the time and one of our mantras is bend but don't break. At the 11 minute mark we were up 12-13 points. Then to end the half, we had nine turnovers and they made a run at us, tying the game at halftime.
"We made a couple of adjustment at the half and Ben [Roderick] broke the thing open in transition with a couple of threes and give a lot of credit to him and our guys for staying with it and executing."
Roderick led the way with 22 points, going 7-of-10 from the field and 6-of-9 from three. Junior guard Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) added 21 points, going 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-7 from three, while grabbing nine boards and dishing out seven assists. Senior forward Dwight Wilson III added 14 points and six rebounds, while redshirt junior Ben Vander Plas added 11 points and eight boards.
Overall, Ohio shot 45.3 percent from the field, 38.2 percent from three and 61.9 percent from the free throw line, while N.C. A&T shot 39.7 percent from the field, 36.0 percent from three and 86.7 percent from the free throw line. Ohio out-rebounded the Aggies, 44-31, and dished out 18 assists to their 13.
A&T tied the game up and teams went to the locker room with the score knotted at 35-35. The Aggies took a one-point lead out of the half on a free throw, however, that was the only lead they would hold, as Roderick and the Bobcats caught fire behind the arc.