MT. PLEASANT, MI – Toledo's rally from a 14-point deficit came up short on Friday evening in a 96-88 setback at Mid-American Conference West Division foe Central Michigan. The Rockets (9-8, 2-2 MAC) came within two points of the Chippewas (11-6, 1-3 MAC) on two separate occasions in the second half but could never take the lead.

Senior guard Jonathan Williams spearheaded UT's attack with a career-high 30 points. He was joined in double figures by senior forward Steve Taylor Jr. (20 pts.), sophomore guard Jaelan Sanford (16 pts.) and senior guard Jordan Lauf (13 pts.).

Taylor also grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds for his league-best 13^th double-double, but that couldn't prevent CMU from owning a 44-37 advantage on the glass.

Senior guard Braylon Rayson paced the Chippewas with 28 points, while junior guard Marcus Keene contributed 20 points and team-high tying seven rebounds.

Central Michigan held a slim 47.7-44.2 edge in the shooting department. The Chippewas converted 52.8 percent of their shots in the opening 20 minutes, while the Rockets posted a 51.2 conversion rate in the second stanza.

CMU broke out on top early by scoring the game's first 11 points. Toledo quickly regrouped following a timeout and managed to cut its deficit to 17-16 following a Sanford jumper at the 12:23 mark. Rayson buried a trey on the next trip up the floor though to ignite a quick 11-2 spurt to allow the hosts to regain a double-digit lead, 28-18, just under four minutes later. Central Michigan expanded its lead to as many as 14 points before taking a 45-35 halftime lead.

The Rockets made their move just over four minutes in the second stanza, cutting CMU's lead to 56-52 with an 11-2 burst that was buoyed by consecutive three-pointers from Sanford, Lauf and Williams. A Williams' layup brought Toledo within 58-56 with 11:21 remaining but Brayson' layup put Central Michigan back up by four points. Sanford then sank two free throws to cut the Chippewas' lead to 60-58 but that was as close as UT could come.

Back-to-back three-point field goals from freshman forward David DiLeo and Rayson put Toledo down, 70-62, with 8:18 to play. The Rockets rallied again to within five points on two separate occasions (76-71 and 78-73) but Central Michigan answered with baskets to prevent UT from gaining any momentum.

Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 17 when it hosts arch-rival Bowling Green  in Savage Arena at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons will host Northern Illinois on Saturday prior to coming to the Glass City.


Coach Kowalczyk's Post-Game Comments vs. CMU