TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo expanded its lead in the Mid-American Conference's West Division to two games on Saturday evening with a hard-fought 72-65 victory over defending conference champion Kent State. The contest was played before a season-high 4,970 energetic fans, who saw the Rockets (13-6, 5-1 MAC) win their season-high fifth straight game and register their eighth victory in nine outings.
 
UT utilized a balanced attack to secure the victory as senior guard Tre'Shaun Fletcher led the way with 17 points, a team-high 12 rebounds and four assists for his eighth double-double of the season. Joining Fletcher in double digits were sophomore center Luke Knapke (16 pts., nine reb.), junior guard Jaelan Sanford (14 pts., team-high five asst.) and freshman guard Marreon Jackson (11 pts.).
 
The backcourt tandem of senior Kevin Zabo and guard Jaylin Walker paced the Golden Flashes (9-10, 3-3 MAC) with 20 and 19 points, respectively.
 
Toledo shot 42.6 percent in the contest by overcoming a season-low 33.0 mark in the opening 20 minutes with a 56.0 FG% in the second half.  The Rockets also knocked down just 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) three-point attempts, marking just the fourth time this season the Midnight Blue and Gold hasn't made at least nine treys.
 
Toledo held a slim 35-34 advantage on the boards and committed a season-low six turnovers while dishing out 18 assists.
 
Kent State shot 48.1 percent from the field and 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from three-point range.  The Rockets were able to overcome the Golden Flashes' advantage in those two shooting departments by making 14-of-19 free throws (73.7 percent) compared to KSU's season-low 5-of-11 totals (45.5 percent).
 
Toledo surged to a double-digit lead less than seven minutes in when Sanford's three-pointer gave the Rockets a 15-3 cushion at the 13:25 mark. UT would hold onto that lead until Walker drained a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to send both squads to the locker room tied at 30-all.
 
The Golden Flashes took their first lead of the game on Zabo's layup 33 seconds into the second half. Neither team could establish any real momentum though as there were 10 lead changes and eight times when the score was tied until there was just over four minutes remaining.
 
That was when the Rockets went on a 6-0 spurt that propelled them to their victory.  Sanford answered senior guard Desmond Ridenour's layup with one of his own to even the score at 61-61 with 4:05 to play. Fletcher and Knapke then set the crowd into a frenzy with back-to-back dunks for a four-point lead at the 3:02 mark.
 
Toledo's lead remained at four until Zabo's layup cut UT's lead to 67-65 with 19.9 ticks showing on the clock. The Rockets then closed out the victory by making five of six free throws.
 
UT will return to the road to play at Western Michigan (11-8, 3-3) on Tuesday, Jan. 23 before coming home next weekend to host Bowling Green (12-7, 3-3) in a White Out game on Saturday, Jan. 27. Both contests are set for 7:00 p.m. tipoffs and will be streamed on ESPN3.
 

Highlights from UT's victory against Kent State.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Senior Tre'Shaun Fletcher post-game.


Sophomore Luke Knapke post-game.