Feb. 15, 2003

Final Stats| Quotes| Notes

TOLEDO, OH - Toledo (10-12, 4-8 MAC) dropped another close contest with its 66-64 loss at home tonight to Central Michigan (16-5, 9-3 MAC). The defeat was UT's seventh conference defeat in which it had a chance to win in the final five minutes.

Junior guard Keith Triplett paced the Rockets' attack with 22 points and tied for the team high in rebounds (5) and assists (4) while making four steals. He tried to send the game into overtime but his last-second jumper came up short.

Junior center Chris Kaman led the Chippewas with 30 points and 16 rebounds after notching 17 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots in an 83-74 home win over Toledo on Jan. 22.

CMU's victory allowed the Chippewas to remain a half-game behind Northern Illinois (14-9, 10-3) in the MAC's West Division following the Huskies' 70-68 overtime win at Eastern Michigan.

The game was tied five times in the second half before senior guard Whitney Robinson scored his only points on two free throws to give the Chippewas a 54-53 lead with 5:57 to play. Senior guard J.R. Wallace then made a three-pointer to make it 57-53 with 5:10 remaining.

Toledo was able to cut CMU's lead to a single point on four occasions after that but could never take the lead.

Central Michigan made five-of-six free throws over the final 2:21, and Kaman scored a key basket with 1:30 to play to help hold off the Rockets.

UT held a 33-24 halftime advantage thanks to a 9-0 run in the final 1:30 of the opening stanza. Senior guard Nick Moore keyed the run with a pair of treys and Triplett added three free throws after being fouled on a three-point field goal attempt.

The Rockets played tonight's contest without senior forward Milo Kirsh, who was serving a one-game suspension due to fighting. Kirsh's absence left UT with primarily two post players, junior A.J. Shellabarger and sophomore Kareem Milson, to contain Kaman. Both Shellabarger (five points) and Milson (six points) finished the contest after picking up their fourth personal fouls with over nine minutes remaining in the game.

Toledo will now finish the season with four of its final six games on the road and returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 18 when it travels to Kalamazoo, MI to battle Western Michigan (14-7, 6-6 MAC). The Broncos posted a 67-65 road win over Bowling Green (10-12, 6-8 MAC) this afternoon.