TOLEDO, Ohio – The Rockets' backcourt duo of senior Tre'Shaun Fletcher and junior Jaelan Sanford combined for 51 points on Friday evening to lead Toledo to an 89-76 triumph over Central Michigan in Savage Arena. The victory improved UT's record to 20-9 overall (12-4 MAC) and was the Rockets' third 20-win campaign in the last five seasons under Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk.

Fletcher tallied a game-high 28 points and dished out a career-high nine assists to pace Toledo offensively, while Sanford contributed 23 points and tied his career high with seven rebounds. Sanford also connected on a season-high 5-of-7 three-point field-goal attempts to help UT notch an impressive 60.0 three-point shooting mark (12-of-20). Junior forward Nate Navigato also scored in double figures with 14 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting.

Sophomore center Luke Knapke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to help UT to a 34-24 advantage on the glass.

The Chippewas (16-13, 5-11 MAC) also had a pair of 20-point scorers with senior forward Cecil Williams tallying 25 points and junior guard Shawn Roundtree pouring in 20. CMU struggled behind the arc as the Rockets limited the visitors to a 30.4 three-point FG% (7-of-23).
 
TOLEDO HEAD COACH TOD KOWALCZYK:
"Central Michigan is a hard team to defend because they have so many good shooters on the perimeter. I thought we did a great job by just not over-helping. Central can beat you with its three-point shooting, and we held their top three shooters to a combined five points. Jaelan Sanford also stepped up on the glass for us and that was big because Central is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Toledo trailed for just 50 seconds in the contest. The Rockets scored the game's first eight points before CMU answered with a nine-point run to gain its first lead. The two teams then exchanged baskets on the next two possessions before a Fletcher trey gave UT the lead for good at 13-11 with 14:42 remaining in the first half.
• The Rockets took a 44-39 lead into the locker room at the half following a highlight-reel dunk from Sanford with five seconds to play in the opening stanza.
• Toledo gained some breathing room by scoring six straight points within a 10-second span to gain a 63-50 cushion with 14:16 remaining. Sanford hit a trey to ignite the outburst, and Fletcher stole the in-bounds pass and was fouled on an ensuing dunk for a three-point play.
• CMU rallied to within six points just over four minutes later, but Sanford immediately answered with a trey. After Williams responded with a three-pointer of his own, Toledo received baskets from Fletcher and sophomore forward Willie Jackson to gain a 72-62 lead with 7:33 to play.
• The Rockets' lead didn't dip below eight points the remainder of the contest.
   

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Rockets are now guaranteed of being a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the 2018 MAC Tournament.
• Toledo swept its season series vs. CMU and has now won its last three matchups vs. the Chippewas.
• The Rockets' 12 treys were just two shy of their season high.
• Toledo's 60.0 three-point FG% was its highest in a conference contest this season.
• Fletcher's nine assists were the most by a Rocket this season.
• Sanford is heating up down the stretch and has made 12-of-22 (.545 percent) shots behind the arc in his last four games.
• Navigato has knocked down 16-of-31 (.516 percent) three-point shots in his last five games.

UP NEXT

• The Rockets will travel to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Feb. 27 for their final road game of the 2017-18 campaign.  Toledo will wrap up its regular season at home with a 6:00 p.m. tipoff on Friday, March 2 vs. Eastern Michigan.