Cleveland, Ohio – Toledo battled No. 2 seed Ohio down to the final possession before falling to the Bobcats, 67-66, in quarterfinal Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament action at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Thursday.
 
        Ohio's Kenny Kaminski hit a mid-range jumper with seven seconds left to win it for Ohio. Senior guard Jonathan Williams took the inbounds pass the length of the floor but his driving shot was no good. Senior guard Jordan Lauf corralled the rebound but his put-back at the buzzer failed to find the mark.
 
        Toledo, which trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, took a 66-64 lead on a Williams layup with 48 seconds. Ohio's Jason Carter made 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to 66-65. Senior forward Steve Taylor was fouled as he rebounded Carter's second free-throw attempt, but he missed the front end of a one-on-one, leaving the door open for the Bobcats.
 
        Williams led No. 7 seed Toledo with 18 points. Lauf added 12 and sophomore guard Jaelan Sanford chipped in 11. Junior guard Jaaron Simmons led Ohio (20-10) with 22 points, while freshman forward Jason Carter had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
 
        Toledo (17-16) came out firing in the first half, connecting on 13-of-25 shots (52.0 percent) and 6-of-11 from three-point range, while holding Ohio to just 12-of-33 (36.4 percent) to take a 37-29 halftime lead.
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        The Rockets suffered an early blow, however, when senior guard Lauf went down with a back injury at the 15:45 mark of the first half with Toledo holding a 7-4 lead. With Lauf in the locker room, the Rockets responded with a 9-5 run to move their lead to 16-9 with 13:05 left in the half. The lead extended to 26-11 when freshman center Luke Knapke knocked down a three-pointer at the 7:15 mark.
 
        Ohio rallied, ending the half with a 12-7 run, capped off by a put-back by Carter that cut the UT lead to eight points at the break.
 
        Lauf returned to the UT lineup to start the second half, but the Bobcats came out roaring, scoring the first 12 points to take a 41-37 lead with 16:14 left. Williams finally snapped the cold spell with a three-pointer at the 14:32 mark to cut the Ohio lead to 41-40. The Bobcats upped the lead to eight points, 50-42, on back-to-back triples from Mike Laster and Kenny Kaminski.
 
        A Lauf layup on a nice feed from Taylor cut the OU lead to 50-47 with 9:46 left. Moments later, Lauf hit a three-pointer and another layup to tie the score at 58-58 with 5:17 remaining. Following a bucket by Ohio, Taylor made 1-of-2 free throws to cut the Bobcat lead to 60-59 with 4:15 left. The score stayed there until the 2:47 mark when Carter made a shot in the paint to up Ohio's lead to 62-59. Williams and Simmons exchanged driving layups, giving Ohio a 64-61 edge going into the final two minutes.
 
        Sophomore Nate Navigato tied the score, 64-64, with a triple with 48 seconds left, forcing Ohio to call timeout. Williams followed up with a steal and a driving layup to give Toledo 66-64 lead. But the Rockets would not score again, and Ohio tallied the final three points of the contest to claim the victory.


 Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk, Sophomore Nate Navigato and Senior Jordan Lauf post-game comments
 


Toledo Game Highlights