University of Toledo
Delaware
Rockets Fall at Delaware, 74-63
12/30/2008 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NEWARK, DE ? Toledo nearly came back from a 15-point second-half deficit on Tuesday night but the Rockets ended up dropping a 74-63 decision at Delaware. UT closed to within four points with just over two minutes remaining but couldn't come any closer.
The Blue Hens' red-hot outside shooting proved to be the difference in the contest as UD drained a season-high 12 treys and shot 54.5 percent from behind the three-point arc.
“We knew they would shoot a lot of threes and that's what they did,” Toledo Head Coach Gene Cross said. “We told our guys coming into the game that we needed to defend the three-point arc but we didn't do it.”
Senior G Jonathan Amos led the Rockets with a season-high 24 points. Senior G Tyrone Kent also was in double figures with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting despite playing just 16 minutes due to foul trouble.
"We depend a lot on Jon and a lot was resting on his shoulders because we were in foul trouble," Cross said. "He answered the bell by attacking and making the proper reads. He had a couple of mistakes in there but I'll take those when he's aggressive. He was 10-of-20 from the field and had six rebounds, four steals and three assists. That's a stat line any coach would want from one of their seniors."
Jawan Carter led four Delaware players in double figures with 24 points, while Marc Egerson tallied 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Toledo tried to make several runs in the second half but the closest it could come was three points with just over eight minutes play. Sophomore F Justin Anyijong drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to bring UT within 52-47 with nine minutes remaining and force the Blue Hens to call timeout. Amos continued the Rockets' rally with a driving layup but D.J. Boney hit a trey to give UD a six-point cushion. An Amos steal and dunk with 6:45 remaining brought UT back to within four but the Blue Hens pushed their lead back out to 64-54 with 4:21 to play.
The Rockets kept fighting though and Kent's putback with 2:06 remaining made the score 65-61. Carter hit a pair of free throws at the 1:33 mark, but freshman G Clayton Sterling answered with a putback 20 seconds later to make it a four-point game. Egerson then delivered a dagger when hit a three with the shot clock winding down with 41 seconds left.
With Kent sitting much of the first half after picking up two fouls in the first six minutes, Amos sparked the Rockets in the early going. He tallied 10 points in the first eight minutes before cooling off until the second half. UT was matching the Blue Hens bucket for bucket in the opening stanza leading to eight lead changes. Delaware took control though with a 15-0 run. The hosts hit a trio of threes in the spurt and connected on 8-of-12 attempts (66.7 percent) from the behind the three-point arc in the opening stanza.
"We dropped the ball as far as coverage of the three-point line during this stretch and that was a big deciding factor in the game," Cross said.
Kent started to heat up in the second half scoring UT's first three baskets but he picked up his fourth foul with 16 minutes remaining diving for a loose ball. His play helped the Rockets shoot 57.1 percent in the second stanza after converting just 34.4 percent in the first 20 minutes.
"I thought we moved with more purpose and were aggresively moving toward the basket," Cross said. "We were getting good shots when you shoot so well. It's a game of two halves though. We've been notorious for playing one half of basketball and 20 minutes does not make a game."
Toledo returns to action on Friday, Jan. 2 when it hosts Dayton (12-1) at Savage Arena. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.
