TOLEDO, OH – Sophomore forward Nate Navigato poured in a career-high 22 points and dished out a career-best seven assists to lead Toledo (10-8, 3-2 MAC) to an 85-73 triumph over arch-rival Bowling Green (7-11, 1-4 MAC) on Tuesday evening in Savage Arena. The victory continued the Rockets' recent dominance of the Falcons as UT extended its win streak in the Battle of I-75 to six games.

Four more Rockets joined Navigato in double digits to give UT five players with double-figure scoring totals for the first time this season. Senior guard Jonathan Williams tallied 20 points and was followed by sophomore guard Jaelan Sanford (13 pts.), redshirt freshman center Luke Knapke (12 pts.) and senior forward Steve Taylor Jr. (10 pts.).

Taylor led the Rockets' efforts on the boards with a game-high 12 rebounds for his MAC-best 14^th double-double of the season.

UT, which improved its home record to 8-1 this season, was efficient on the offensive end throughout the contest and finished with a 54.7 field-goal percentage and 45.0 (9-of-20) three-point shooting mark. Toledo also tied its season high with 23 assists and committed 12 turnovers.

Sophomore forward Demajeo Wiggins topped Bowling Green with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Wes Alcegaire and senior guard Zack Denny also scored in double digits with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

UT limited the Falcons to a 42.5 field-goal percentage, including a 15.8 mark (3-of-19) from three-point range.

Toledo controlled much of the contest except for a short stretch in the first half. Navigato buried four treys early to help the Rockets jump out to a 21-6 advantage with 13:38 remaining in the first half.

Bowling Green whittled away its deficit with a 15-2 spurt to cut UT's lead to just two points. The Falcons eventually took their only lead of the contest, 32-30, on a Wiggins' layup 4:33 before halftime.

That was the last points UT allowed in the opening stanza as treys from Williams, Sanford and Navigato highlighted a 13-0 burst that resulted in a 43-32 halftime cushion for Toledo.

The Rockets increased their lead to as many as 22 points in the second stanza when three consecutive buckets from Knapke put UT in front by a 66-44 margin with 9:10 remaining.

NOTE: Jonathan Williams registered his 12^th 20-point outing of the season and moved into 10^th place on UT's all-time scoring list with 1,507 points.


Nate Navigato post-game comments


Tod Kowalczyk post-game comments