TOLEDO, Ohio - The Rockets' backcourt duo of senior Tre'Shaun Fletcher and junior Jaelan Sanford combined for 51 points on Friday evening to lead Toledo to an 89-76 triumph over Central Michigan in Savage Arena.
The victory improved UT's record to 20-9 overall (12-4 MAC) and marked the Rockets' third 20-win campaign in the last five seasons under Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk.
Central Michigan lost its . . .
The victory improved UT's record to 20-9 overall (12-4 MAC) and marked the Rockets' third 20-win campaign in the last five seasons under Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk.
Central Michigan lost its . . .
. . . third straight and fifth in six games, dropping to 16-13 overall(5-11 MAC).
Cecil Williams paced the Chippewas with 25 points, connecting on 9 of 15 overall from the field and 5 of 7 at the line.
Shawn Roundtree netted 20 points, while Kevin McKay hit 7 of 11 for 17 points in 32 minutes after coming off the bench.
Toledo's Fletcher tallied a game-high 28 points and dished out a career-high nine assists, while Sanford contributed 23 points and tied his career high with seven rebounds.
Sanford also connected on a season-high 5-of-7 three-point field-goal attempts to help UT notch an impressive 60.0 three-point shooting mark (12-of-20). Junior forward Nate Navigato also scored in double figures with 14 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting.
Sophomore center Luke Knapke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to help UT to a 34-24 advantage on the glass.
Part of UT's success was taking care of business on the glass and limiting damage by Chippewa shooters on the perimeter. CMU struggled behind the arc, making 30.4 percent (7-of-23) of its three-point tries.
"Central Michigan is a hard team to defend because they have so many good shooters on the perimeter,"
"I thought we did a great job by just not over-helping," Toledo head coach Ted Kowalczyk said. "Central can beat you with its three-point shooting, and we held their top three shooters to a combined five points. Jaelan Sanford also stepped up on the glass for us and that was big because Central is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league."
Toledo trailed for just 50 seconds in the contest. The Rockets scored the game's first eight points before CMU answered with a nine-point run to gain its first lead.
The two teams then exchanged baskets on the next two possessions before a Fletcher trey gave UT the lead for good at 13-11 with 14:42 remaining in the first half.
The Rockets took a 44-39 lead into the locker room at the half following a highlight-reel dunk from Sanford with five seconds to play in the opening stanza.
Toledo gained some breathing room by scoring six straight points within a 10-second span to gain a 63-50 cushion with 14:16 remaining. Sanford hit a trey to ignite the outburst, and Fletcher stole the in-bounds pass and was fouled on an ensuing dunk for a three-point play.
CMU rallied to within six points just over four minutes later, but Sanford immediately answered with a trey. After Williams responded with a three-pointer of his own, Toledo received baskets from Fletcher and sophomore forward Willie Jackson to gain a 72-62 lead with 7:33 to play.
The Rockets' lead didn't dip below eight points the remainder of the contest.
NEXT:
The Rockets will travel to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET) for their final road game of the 2017-18 campaign.
Central Michigan is home Tuesday (7 p.m.ET) against Ball State.
(Courtesy of UT Athletics)
Cecil Williams paced the Chippewas with 25 points, connecting on 9 of 15 overall from the field and 5 of 7 at the line.
Shawn Roundtree netted 20 points, while Kevin McKay hit 7 of 11 for 17 points in 32 minutes after coming off the bench.
Toledo's Fletcher tallied a game-high 28 points and dished out a career-high nine assists, while Sanford contributed 23 points and tied his career high with seven rebounds.
Sanford also connected on a season-high 5-of-7 three-point field-goal attempts to help UT notch an impressive 60.0 three-point shooting mark (12-of-20). Junior forward Nate Navigato also scored in double figures with 14 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting.
Sophomore center Luke Knapke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to help UT to a 34-24 advantage on the glass.
Part of UT's success was taking care of business on the glass and limiting damage by Chippewa shooters on the perimeter. CMU struggled behind the arc, making 30.4 percent (7-of-23) of its three-point tries.
"Central Michigan is a hard team to defend because they have so many good shooters on the perimeter,"
"I thought we did a great job by just not over-helping," Toledo head coach Ted Kowalczyk said. "Central can beat you with its three-point shooting, and we held their top three shooters to a combined five points. Jaelan Sanford also stepped up on the glass for us and that was big because Central is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league."
Toledo trailed for just 50 seconds in the contest. The Rockets scored the game's first eight points before CMU answered with a nine-point run to gain its first lead.
The two teams then exchanged baskets on the next two possessions before a Fletcher trey gave UT the lead for good at 13-11 with 14:42 remaining in the first half.
The Rockets took a 44-39 lead into the locker room at the half following a highlight-reel dunk from Sanford with five seconds to play in the opening stanza.
Toledo gained some breathing room by scoring six straight points within a 10-second span to gain a 63-50 cushion with 14:16 remaining. Sanford hit a trey to ignite the outburst, and Fletcher stole the in-bounds pass and was fouled on an ensuing dunk for a three-point play.
CMU rallied to within six points just over four minutes later, but Sanford immediately answered with a trey. After Williams responded with a three-pointer of his own, Toledo received baskets from Fletcher and sophomore forward Willie Jackson to gain a 72-62 lead with 7:33 to play.
The Rockets' lead didn't dip below eight points the remainder of the contest.
NEXT:
The Rockets will travel to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET) for their final road game of the 2017-18 campaign.
Central Michigan is home Tuesday (7 p.m.ET) against Ball State.
(Courtesy of UT Athletics)
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