Jan 12, 2002

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TOLEDO, OH (AP) - Toledo (5-7, 2-1 MAC) dropped a 68-59 decision to Ball State (10-5, 3-1 MAC) tonight in a matchup of the top two teams in the MAC's West Division. The Rockets now trail the Cardinals by a half-game in the division standings. Junior Theron Smith notched game highs in points (20) and rebounds (14) for the Cardinals, while sophomore guard Terry Reynolds led the Rockets' offensive attack with 13 points and a game-high six assists. Sophomore center A.J. Shellabarger added a career-high 12 and junior guard Nick Moore scored 10 for Toledo.

After scoring the game's first six points, the Rockets went without a field goal for more than six minutes as the Cardinals went on a 17-1 run for a 17-6 advantage. BSU extended its advantage to 28-15 before the Rockets tallied eight straight points to close within five. Smith then hit a three-pointer to end the half to give the Cardinals a 36-28 halftime lead. Toledo cut BSU's lead to six (45-39) with 13:46 to play but couldn't come any closer until pulling within 65-59 with 31 seconds remaining.

Toledo held Ball State to 41.7 percent shooting from the field, but the Cardinals converted 39.1 percent (9-of-23) of their three-point attempts. The Rockets shot 40.4 percent but were just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from beyond the arc.

UT returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 16 when it hosts Northern Illinois (5-8, 1-3 MAC) at Savage Hall. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.