TOLEDO, OH ? Toledo held Houston's potent offense 10 points under its scoring average on Saturday night but it was not enough as the Rockets dropped a 71-63 decision to the Cougars at Savage Arena.

UT limited the visitors to a 40.3 shooting percentage but was hampered by poor shooting ? 36.5 percent - of its own. The Rockets also continued to be plagued by turnovers, committing 22 miscues which led to 28 Houston points.

Senior G Jonathan Amos led Toledo with 16 points and seven rebounds in addition to tying his career high with six assists. Senior G Ridley Johnson came off the bench to score 15 points with senior G Anthony Byrd adding 12 points. Senior G Tyrone Kent led the Rockets on the boards with a season-high eight rebounds but couldn't find his shot on the offensive end en route to a six-point showing.

Junior G Kelvin Lewis paced a balanced Houston attack with a game-high 19 points with junior F Qa'rraan Calhoun adding 17 points. Senior C Marcus Cousin (17 pts., 11 reb., 4 blocks) and junior G Aubrey Coleman (15 pts., 13 reb., 7 stls.) both registered double-doubles for the Cougars.

Houston held the lead for most of the game although the Rockets never allowed UH to pull away. In the first half, UT took a 10-7 lead three minutes into the contest but the Cougars utilized a 9-0 run over the next six minutes to take the lead for good.

The Rockets rallied late in the first half to pull to within three at 33-30 on Ridley Johnson's jumper, but a Cousin layup late in the first half gave the Cougars a 35-30 lead heading into the locker room.

The two teams traded field goals early in the final period before the Rockets pulled to within two at 43-41 on a free throw from Kent with 15:06 remaining in the game. Again, the Cougars used another run, rattling off 10 straight points, thanks in part to five points from Calhoun and a Lewis trey.

The Cougars would never lead by fewer than five points the rest of the way. Toledo trimmed the deficit to six points and 63-57 with 3:57 remaining on an old-fashioned three-point play by Kent, but Coleman responded with a three-point play of his own to extend the Houston lead.

The Rockets used one final run, scoring the next four points, to trim the Cougar advantage to 66-61 with 61 seconds remaining, but a Coleman free throw and the final four points from Cousin sealed the win for the Cougars.

Toledo will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 23 when it hosts UIC (7-3). Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.