Oakland Sends Cold-Shooting Rockets to 76-64 Defeat

Saturday, December 12

Toledo, OH

7:00 PM

University of Toledo

6-4

Oakland

6-3

Team	1	2	F
Oakland	38	38	76
TOLEDO	33	31	64

Photo by: Toledo Athletics

Oakland Sends Cold-Shooting Rockets to 76-64 Defeat

12/12/2015 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TOLEDO, OH – A season-low 34.8 field-goal percentage combined with Oakland junior guard Kahlil Felder tallying a career-high 34 points and six assists sent Toledo to a 76-64 defeat on Saturday evening in Savage Arena.

Felder, who entered the contest ranked 10^th nationally with 23.4 ppg and a nation-best 9.3 apg, shot 9-of-20 from the field with three 3-pointers and 13-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Senior center Nathan Boothe topped the Rockets with 18 points and 10 boards for his team-best fifth double-double of the season. Also scoring in double digits for Toledo was junior guard Jonathan Williams (14 pts.) and freshman forward Nate Navigato (11 pts.).

Joining Felder in double figures was junior forward Jalen Hayes with a double-double (11 pts.-11 reb.) and senior center Percy Gibson (13 pts.-8 reb.).

The Rockets couldn't get untracked offensively in either half, shooting 38.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes and 31.4 percent following intermission. UT took its most three-point attempts vs. an NCAA Division I opponent this season and shot 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from behind the three-point arc. Toledo also couldn't find its stroke at the charity stripe with a 61.5 (8-of-13) conversion rate.

Oakland's shooting was consistent throughout with its 42.6 field-goal percentage (26-of-61). The Golden Grizzlies knocked down 7-of-17 three-point shots (41.2 percent) and 17-of-23 free throws (73.9 percent).

The visitors started strong, scoring the first nine points before UT answered with a 14-4 spurt to take its only lead of the game, 14-13, at the 13:17 mark of the first stanza. That lead was short-lived as Felder fed Hayes for a slam on Oakland's next possession. Navigato's three-point bomb brought the Rockets with 21-19 eight minutes before halftime. That was as close as UT could come as the Golden Grizzlies took a 38-33 advantage to the locker room.

Toledo's best chance to even the score in the second half came with a six-point burst that included a Boothe jumper, junior forward Zach Garber's slam and a Williams' layup that put UT down 42-39 with 15:03 to play.

The Rockets were able to get stops on Oakland's next two possessions but couldn't take advantage. Gibson's two free throws and senior forward Max Hooper's trey put UT down 47-39 two minutes later.

A Boothe jumper cut Toledo's deficit to 66-60 with 2:10 to play, but Oakland scored the game's next six points to eliminate any hopes of a Rocket comeback.

Toledo will now take a week off to concentrate on final exams before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 19 against Bethune-Cookman. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.