Jan. 17, 2004

Final Stats| Quotes| Notes

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Senior guard Keith Triplett scored a team-high 24 points and sophomore guard Sammy Villegas added 18 points and Toledo held Akron to 40 percent shooting in an 87-79 victory before a season-high crowd of 6,525 fans at Savage Hall on Saturday night.

The Rockets (11-3, 5-1 Mid-American Conference) shot 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the floor and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from three-point range to stay a half-game behind Western Michigan in the West Division.

The Broncos beat Eastern Michigan 72-63 to move to 5-0 in the MAC, the league's only unbeaten team in conference play.

The Zips (7-6, 1-4) hit only 25-of-63 shots from the floor and were hurt by 22-of-31 free throw shooting in their third straight loss.

Senior guard Derrick Tarver led Akron with with a game-high 29 points and freshman forward Romeo Travis added 19 points off the bench.

Redshirt freshman center Allen Pinson also scored 10 points to match his season high and blocked a season-high three shots for Toledo before fouling out in 17 minutes of action.

The Rockets led the entire contest and jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes before settling for a 36-34 halftime advantage.

UT held off the Zips in the second half and Villegas helped the Rockets secure the victory with two key plays late in the game to give UT some breathing room. He dished off to Pinson for a layup with 4:16 to play and then connected on a three-pointer with 2:55 remaining for five straight points and a 77-68 advantage.

Toledo begins a busy week of action with a trip to Ypsilanti, MI on Monday, Jan. 19 to battle Eastern Michigan (6-7, 1-4 MAC). UT will then host arch-rival Bowling Green (7-8, 3-2 MAC) on Thursday, Jan. 22 and travel to MAC East Division leader Kent State (10-3, 4-1 MAC) on Sunday, Jan. 25.

The Rockets will be looking to avenge a pair of close defeats to the Eagles last year, falling 76-72 in Ypsilanti and 76-73 at Savage Hall.