Strong Defense Propels Rockets to 87-74 Victory Over Oakland

Saturday, November 18

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

3-0

Oakland

2-1

Oakland

TOLEDO

Photo by: Toledo Athletics

Strong Defense Propels Rockets to 87-74 Victory Over Oakland

11/18/2017 10:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo remained undefeated with a convincing 87-74 victory over Horizon League preseason favorite Oakland (2-1) in Savage Arena in its first game of the Hoophall Miami Invitational. The Rockets are off to a 3-0 start, marking their best start to a season since winning 12 in a row at the outset of the 2013-14 campaign.

Junior guard Jaelan Sanford topped the Rockets with 26 points against the Golden Grizzlies, who were ranked No. 5 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. Also scoring in double digits for UT were senior guard Tre'Shaun Fletcher (20 pts., 8 reb.) and sophomore center Luke Knapke with his first career double-double (17 pts., 10 reb., 3 blks.).

A big key to the Midnight Blue and Gold's victory was a stout defensive effort that limited a high-scoring Oakland squad to a 37.7 shooting mark. That minimized an off-shooting night from the perimeter as the Rockets converted just 4-of-21 attempts (19.0 percent) from behind the three-point arc. The Rockets were able to make up for that by driving the lane for baskets, leading to a 50-33 margin in the points in the paint department.

Toledo also held a 45-41 advantage on the boards with junior forward Nate Navigato grabbing a career-best nine rebounds to support Knapke's and Fletcher's work on the glass.

Senior guard Martez Walker topped Oakland with 29 points, while the Golden Grizzlies' leading scorer, senior guard Kendrick Nunn, scored 24 points on 11-of-27 shooting from the field.

The Rockets took control of the contest with a 14-3 spurt to end the first half. Knapke ignited the outburst with a pair of layups. Fletcher then buried a trey with just under two minutes left in the opening stanza to give UT its first double-digit cushion at 33-23. Knapke and freshman guard Marreon Jackson then hit back-to-back threes for a 39-26 lead. A Navigato free throw sent the Rockets to the locker room at halftime with a 40-26 advantage.

UT kept its lead in double figures until the visitors strung together eight straight points to cut their deficit to 60-55 with 8:37 remaining. Back-to-back layups from Sanford and Jackson pushed the Rockets' advantage back to 12 points, 70-58, with 4:46 to play. UT's lead didn't dip below double figures the remainder of the evening.

Toledo now hits the road for its next three contests, beginning with a trip to Atlantic Coast Conference foe Syracuse (3-0) on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

Highlights from UT's win over Oakland.

Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.

Junior Jaelan Sanford post-game.