ANCHORAGE, AK - Junior guard
Jonathan Williams scored a career-high 26 points and senior center
Nathan Boothe posted a triple-double on Wednesday evening to lead Toledo (3-1) to an 89-74 victory over San Jose State (1-3). The contest was the opening men's game of the 2015 GCI Great Alaska Shootout at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Boothe tallied 12 points, 13 rebounds, a career-high 10 assists and two blocked shots and did not commit a turnover in 32 minutes of action. Joining Boothe and Williams in double figures was sophomore guard
Stuckey Mosley, who tallied a career-high 19 points, six boards and four assists.
Toledo dished out 25 assists and committed just six turnovers. In addition to Boothe's 10 helpers, Williams collected a career-high six assists and Mosley added four.
The Rockets also held a 45-38 advantage on the glass with junior guard
Jordan Lauf grabbing a season-high seven caroms. Mosley and junior center
Zach Garber each hauled down six and five rebounds, respectively.
Forwards Frank Rogers and Ryan Welage paced the Spartans with 16 points apiece.
The contest started out as a back-and-forth affair with 10 lead changes in the first 10 minutes. Back-to-back treys from Williams and Lauf put UT up 19-13 at the 13:18 mark of the opening stanza. The Spartans clawed back to take their final lead of the game, 26-24, following treys from freshman forward Cody Schwartz and senior forward Princeton Onwas just under 12 minutes before halftime.
Williams' layup capped off a 9-0 spurt late in in the first half helping Toledo hold a 47-38 cushion at intermission.
The closest the Spartans came in the second half was six points on two occasions, once in the first minute following halftime and the last with 15:34 to play. Onwas' tip-in cut UT's lead to 57-51 but Williams and Boothe quickly restored the Rockets' lead to double digits with a pair of layups.
With the victory, Toledo advances to Friday's 9:30 p.m. EST semifinal against Loyola (IL), while San Jose State will play San Diego at 4:00 p.m. EST Friday in the consolation semifinals.
