TOLEDO, OH – Toledo moved within a game of Mid-American Conference West Division leader Ball State on Tuesday evening with a 77-67 triumph over the Cardinals in Savage Arena. The Rockets (17-11, 8-7 MAC) are tied with Central Michigan (15-13, 8-7 MAC) for second place in the West, one game behind BSU (18-10, 9-6 MAC).
 
UT and CMU will square off on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena.
 
Senior center Nathan Boothe topped the Rockets with 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks with freshman forward Nate Navigato tallying 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the perimeter. Junior guard Jonathan Williams also was in double figures with 12 points to go with four assists and just one turnover.
 
Junior forward Ryan Weber poured in a team-high 18 points for the Cardinals with all of his scoring resulting from a 6-of-8 showing behind the three-point arc. Senior forward Bo Calhoun and junior guard Francis Kiapway each contributed 10 points.
 
Toledo tied its season low with six turnovers and shot 46.3 percent from the field and 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range. That was slightly better than the visitors' mark of 44.1 percent and 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from long distance.
 
The Rockets held a considerable advantage at the charity stripe, knocking down 18-of-22 free throws compared to BSU's 5-of-6 totals from the line. UT was whistled for just 12 fouls in the contest compared to the Cardinals' 19 infractions.
 
Both teams were on fire in the first half. UT posted a 62.1 shooting mark in the opening 20 minutes with Ball State nearly matching the Rockets shot for shot with a 55.6 mark. The lead changed hands eight times in the opening stanza with UT taking the lead for good with a 9-0 spurt to end the half.
 
Sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley's jumper snapped a 38-38 tie at the 2:19 mark, and Boothe followed with a slam 1:26 before halftime. Following another UT defensive stop, Boothe put back his own miss nearly a minute later for a 44-38 lead. Freshman guard Jaelan Sanford accounted for UT's final points by making all three free throws after he was fouled on a three-point attempt with one second remaining.
 
Ball State immediately made a run at the Rockets coming out of the locker room with eight straight points, six coming from a pair of Calhoun three-pointers. Boothe answered with a trey of his own to end the uprising. Followed a Williams' free throw, Boothe sank a jumper and Navigato buried a trey to give UT its first double-digit cushion of the evening, 56-46, with 15:05 to play.
 
The closest the Cardinals came the rest of the contest was within eight points, 60-52, following freshman center Trey Moses' two free throws with 10:36 remaining.
 
UT limited Ball State to a 34.4 field-goal percentage in the second half (3-of-12 3FG) to offset its 28.0 second-half shooting mark.