Slow Start Dooms Rockets in 80-77 Defeat at Cornell

Friday, November 24

Ithaca, N.Y.

4:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

3-2

Cornell

2-3

Toledo

Cornell

Junior Nate Navigato led UT with 22 points in an 80-77 loss at Cornell.

Photo by: Toledo Athletics

Slow Start Dooms Rockets in 80-77 Defeat at Cornell

11/24/2017 6:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. – Toledo nearly rallied from a 21-point deficit at Cornell on Friday afternoon but didn't have enough time left to complete its comeback in an 80-77 setback to the Big Red in Newman Arena.

"Our intensity to start the game wasn't good enough and Cornell took advantage of that," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We didn't defend their ball screen the way we wanted to, and that's something we need to correct in practice. This was a disappointing loss for us, especially after the way we played in our first four games this season."

Junior forward Nate Navigato and senior guard Tre'Shaun Fletcher paced the Rocket attack with 22 and 20 points, respectively. The duo was joined in double figures by sophomore center Luke Knapke (13 pts) and junior guard Jaelan Sanford (10 pts.).

Fletcher also topped UT (3-2) with a career-high 12 rebounds and five assists to give him three double-doubles in five contests as a Rocket.

Junior guard Matt Morgan and junior forward Stone Gettings led Cornell offensively with 24 and 21 points, respectively.

Toledo shot 44.4 percent from the field and was 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) from three-point range. UT enjoyed a slight advantage at the charity stripe, knocking down 10-of-11 attempts (90.9 percent) compared to the Big Red's 4-of-6 totals.

Cornell (2-3) converted 56.1 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 12-of-28 from three-point range.

The Big Red pulled away late in the first half after Navigato buried a trey with just under five minutes remaining to knot the score at 30-30. Cornell went on a 9-0 run and ended up holding a 46-35 cushion at intermission.

The Rockets' deficit grew larger in the first five minutes of the second half as the Big Red buried four of their first six three-point shots to take a 63-42 lead.

UT trimmed its deficit to single digits, 67-59, with just under eight minutes to play and came within 78-74 on a Sanford trey with 1:23 remaining. Navigato then made it one-point game, 78-77, with 14.3 seconds to play. Morgan hit both free throws with 7.2 seconds left for the game's final points.

Fletcher was fouled with 3.1 seconds on the clock but missed the front end of a one-and-one, and UT was unable to corral the rebound.

Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 28 with a contest at No. 2/3 Kansas (4-0), which hosts Oakland later this evening. Tip-off time at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. is 7:00 p.m. CT.