MT. PLEASANT, MI - Central Michigan's 14-0 run spanning the first and second halves was too much for Toledo to overcome on Sunday afternoon in the Rockets' 63-46 defeat to the Chippewas at Rose Arena. The victory moved CMU (12-12, 7-5 MAC) into a first-place tie with Ball State in the MAC's West Division.

Freshman G Jake Barnett paced UT offensively with 10 points. Junior F Justin Anyijong and freshman G Josh Freelove both scored nine points, but Anyijong was hampered by foul trouble throughout and played just 20 minutes.

Senior guards Robbie Harman and Jordan Bitzer led the Chippewa attack with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

"Central's start to the second half killed us and put us in a hole that we couldn't come back from," Toledo Head Coach Gene Cross. "I was proud of how we came out focused at the start of the game. We had carried over our level of play from the last three games but that didn't continue. We have to be able to sustain a level of concentration, and we didn't do that today."

Prior to the Chippewas' spurt, UT had climbed to within two points, 19-17, following Barnett's trey from the corner with 2:41 left in the opening stanza. Bitzer closed out the half with a jumper from just inside the free-throw line to give CMU a 23-17 advantage. The six-point deficit didn't seem too large for the Rockets to overcome considering the fact Anyijong had played just seven minutes in the opening frame.

The Rockets' junior co-captain had keyed UT's quick start to the contest, scoring five points to help Toledo take an early 8-2 cushion. CMU whittled away at its deficit though by holding the Rockets to just one field goal for over 11 minutes to lead by a 17-11 margin.

Harman ignited the hosts following intermission with a trey on its opening possession and junior F Jalin Thomas followed with another three-point bomb. Harman and Thomas then each scored in conventional fashion, and the Rockets found themselves staring at a 33-17 disadvantage. The closest Toledo could come the rest of the way was 10 points as it was limited to a 35.7 field-goal percentage for the contest.

CMU held a 33-26 advantage on the boards and converted 42.6 percent of its field-goal attempts.

The Rockets are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 17 when they host Eastern Michigan (13-12, 5-7 MAC), in the first of three straight conference home dates. Tip-off time from Savage Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.