ANCHORAGE, AK – Six days after letting a double-digit lead to Loyola evaporate Toledo gained a bit of revenge with an 82-74 victory over the Ramblers in the 2015 GCI Great Alaska Shootout semifinals. The victory puts the Rockets into tomorrow night's championship game against Middle Tennessee.
UT's contest vs. the Blue Raiders will tip off at 8:30 p.m. AST (12:30 a.m. EST) and be televised live on the College Sports Network.
Five Rockets scored in double digits with junior guard
Jonathan Williams and sophomore guard
Stuckey Mosley setting the pace with 20 and 18 points, respectively. Joining the backcourt duo in double figures were freshman guard
Jaelan Sanford (14 pts.), senior center
Nathan Boothe (12 pts.) and freshman forward
Nate Navigato (10 pts.).
Mosley topped the Rockets with eight rebounds to go along with five assists, while Boothe dished out a team-high seven assists and grabbed six boards.
Toledo shot 52.0 percent (26-of-50) from the field and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from three-point range. A night after making just five of 12 free throws, the Rockets converted an
impressive 23-of-25 attempts (92.0 percent) with all of them coming in the second half.
UT limited Loyola to a 40.9 shooting mark (27-of-66). The Ramblers were able to stay within striking distance of the Rockets thanks to an 8-of-17 effort beyond the three-point arc in the second half.
Sophomore guard Ben Richardson led LU with a career-high 21 points thanks to hitting 6-of-7 three-point shots.
After the two teams played the first 20 minutes to a 25-25 standstill, Williams sparked a 7-0 spurt with a layup and three-pointer to give UT a 40-32 lead with 14:09 to play. The Ramblers then cut their deficit to three points on three occasions before junior guard
Jordan Lauf nailed a corner trey for a 59-48 cushion with just over five minutes left.
Two Williams' free throws provided UT its largest lead, 62-48, with 4:05 remaining.
The closest Loyola came the remainder of the contest was six points as the Rockets knocked down their final 14 free-throw attempts.
