Jan. 10, 2006

Final Stats |  Quotes

Toledo, OH - Toledo raced out to a 27-6 lead and held on for a 73-70 win over Buffalo on Tuesday night for the Rockets' first Mid-American Conference win. Junior Justin Ingram had 16 points and led three other Toledo players in double-digit scoring.

Toledo (8-4, 1-3 MAC) led 33-16 at the half and was up by 22 points early in the second. But Buffalo (11-3, 1-2) outscored the Rockets 54-40 in the second half, cutting Toledo's lead to three with 14 seconds left.

Sophomore Kashif Payne hit three free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach. He finished with 12 points for the Rockets, who also got 13 points from junior Florentino Valencia and 11 from junior Keonta Howell.

Roderick Middleton had 22 points and Calvin Cage had 18 for the Bulls. Mario Jordan added 12 points, and Yassin Idbihi scored 11. Toledo outscored Buffalo 21-7 from the bench and held the Bulls to 24 percent shooting in the first half.

The Rockets shot a season-best 58 percent overall to the Bulls' 43 percent.

Toledo returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 15 with a 2:00 p.m. contest at arch-rival Bowling Green.