MUNCIE, IN – A shorthanded Toledo squad nearly pulled out a road win at Ball State on Tuesday evening but ended up on the short end of an 81-80 decision to the Cardinals in Worthen Arena.

The Rockets (11-11, 4-5 MAC), who were playing without leading scorer Jonathan Williams due to illness, were paced by senior forward Steve Taylor Jr.'s 23 points and 18 rebounds. Joining Taylor in double figures was redshirt freshman center Luke Knapke (18 pts.) and sophomore guard Jaelan Sanford (15 pts., career-high seven assists).

"I was happy with the grit, toughness and togetherness we played with tonight," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We played well throughout but their run midway through the second half was the key to the game. Steve Taylor Jr. wasn't feeling well and he really came up big for us. Luke Knapke also had a big game for us, and he's a player who is really coming on."

Sophomore guard Tayler Persons paced the Cardinals (15-7, 6-3 MAC) with a game-high 26 points and eight assists. Senior forward Franko House added 19 points and nine rebounds, while freshman forward Tahjai Teague tallied 16 points.

Both teams enjoyed similar shooting nights with BSU's 43.7 FG% barely edging the Rockets' 43.3 conversion rate. UT tied its season high with 11 three-point field goals, with Knapke leading the way with a career-high four triples.

Toledo jumped on the Cardinals early as freshman guard Justin Roberts, who was making his first career start in place of Williams, buried a pair of triples to stake the Rockets to a 10-0 lead. UT continued its strong play and a three-pointer from senior guard Jordan Lauf gave the Midnight Blue and Gold a 24-13 cushion with 11:19 remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals closed to within 31-30 following Teague's three-point play at the 6:35 mark, but Taylor responded with six straight points to give UT a 37-30 advantage nearly two minutes later. The hosts then chipped away at their deficit for the remainder of the opening stanza and UT took a 46-44 lead to the locker room.

Ball State took its first lead of the contest with a 7-0 burst early in the second half but Knapke buried a trey to even the score at 51-51 with 16:02 remaining.  Back-to-back triples from sophomore forward Nate Navigato and Sanford put the Rockets up 61-54 at the 12:34 mark.

The Cardinals then took the lead for good thanks to a 14-2 spurt to assume a 68-63 lead with  8:17 to play.

UT rallied in the final two minutes to reduce its deficit to 79-76 with 1:14 left following treys from Navigato and Knapke.  Ball State then missed its next two shots but was able to grab the offensive board each time to run time off the clock. Taylor converted one of two free throws with 14.4 seconds remaining to make it a two-point game, but junior guard Francis Kiapway hit two free throws with 7.8 ticks left.

Sanford then hit a trey with 1.5 seconds left but UT wasn't able to get a shot off after Persons missed a free throw with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Toledo returns to action on Saturday. Feb. 4 when it travels to arch-rival Bowling Green. Tip-off time is set for 4:00 p.m.