TOLEDO, OH ? Senior G Anthony Byrd knocked down a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to help Toledo hold off Western Michigan (9-19, 6-8 MAC), 63-62, on Saturday evening before 7,036 fans at Savage Arena. The win avenged the Rockets' 70-52 defeat earlier this season to the Broncos in Kalamazoo and kept WMU from moving into a first-place tie with Ball State in the West Division.
"I reminded our guys how they jumped us in our first game and that we needed to come out strong," Toledo Head Coach Gene Cross said. " We did that tonight and it played a big part in our success. We made the plays we needed to at the end of the game and that's the type of things we've been working on in practice."
Senior G Tyrone Kent led the Rockets (6-23, 4-10 MAC) with 21 points and four steals, while sophomore F Mohamed Lo tallied a career-high 18 points and team-best seven rebounds. Senior G Jonathan Amos also was in double figures with 13 points and finished with six boards.
Junior G David Kool paced Western Michigan's attack with a game-high 22 points.
After Byrd hit his two big shots to give UT a 63-60 lead, Kool was fouled with five seconds left and connected for a pair to make it a one-point contest again. Kent then missed both of his shots with 4.2 seconds remaining but Amos grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.
Toledo jumped out quickly scoring the first eight points of the contest. WMU quickly answered by cutting its deficit to 10-9, but the Rockets fired right back with a 7-0 run of their run. UT led by nine points on four different occasions in the first half before settling for a 38-31 halftime advantage.
Western Michigan made a big push early in the second half with a 9-0 run to take only lead of the contest, 44-43, with 13:16 to play. Kent answered with a trey though and Lo followed with an offensive putback to keep the Broncos at bay.
UT continued to build its lead and took a 61-51 lead with 3:21 remaining on a Kent jumper. But WMU went on a 9-0 run to set the stage for Byrd's late-game heroics.
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Mar. 4 with a trip to Mt. Pleasant, MI to face Central Michigan (9-18, 5-9). Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.
