TOLEDO, OH ? Toledo suffered back-to-back home court losses for the first time in over five years with its 69-55 setback to MAC West Division champion Western Michigan tonight in Savage Hall. In addition, the Rockets' 19-game Mid-American Conference homecourt win streak was snapped with the defeat and also was the Broncos' first in Savage Hall since Jan. 24, 1998.
The defeat drops UT's record to 8-18, while WMU improves to 18-10 and is now tied with Kent State for the best record in the MAC at 11-3. Toledo's 32.8 field-goal percentage was its lowest in Savage Hall this season.
“I thought we were getting decent shots but they just weren't falling for us tonight,” Toledo Head Coach Stan Joplin said. “Western Michigan is probably playing the way were last year with the way they're running away with the West Division. It seems like this is their year and it's not our year.”
Junior guard Tyrone Kent was one of three Rockets to score in double figures scoring a team-high 14 points with senior forward Jerrah Young and junior guard Jonathan Amos adding 11 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore guard David Kool paced the Broncos with a game-high 24 points, while junior guard Shawntes Gary posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Toledo fell behind 10-6 early in the contest but answered with junior guard Anthony Byrd's three-pointer and a three-point play from junior guard Ridley Johnson to put the Rockets on top. UT held its final lead of the game at 20-18 with 7:36 remaining in the first half before a 19-2 WMU run put the Broncos firmly in control.
“I thought at the beginning of the game we were playing pretty good defense but then we just hit a wall where we couldn't put the ball in basket,” senior forward Jerrah Young said. “Western did a good job of taking advantage of that and we could never get back in the game.”
The Rockets were only outscored by a single point, 32-31, in the second half but the closest UT could come was 51-41 with 10:19 to play in the game.
Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 4 with its final home game of the season against Eastern Michigan (12-15, 7-7 MAC). UT will then close out its regular season with a trip to Mt. Pleasant, MI to face Central Michigan (12-15, 7-7 MAC) on Sunday, Mar. 9.
