Rockets Shoot Down Miami, 71-59

Tuesday, January 15

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Miami

Miami (OH)

Toledo

Jaelan Sanford scored 19 points to lead Toledo to a 71-59 victory over Miami on Tuesday.

Photo by: Will Edmonds

1/15/2019 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

Toledo, Ohio – Senior guard Jaelan Sanford scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the first half to lead Toledo (14-3, 2-2 MAC) to a 71-59 victory over the Miami RedHawks (8-9, 0-4 MAC) at Savage Arena on Tuesday. The victory was the Rockets' 11th straight over the RedHawks and improved UT's record in Savage Arena to 8-1 this season.

        Joining Sanford in double figures were sophomore guard Spencer Littleson (12 pts.), junior center Luke Knapke (11 pts.) and sophomore guard Marreon Jackson (10 pts.). Littleson knocked down 4-of-6 shots from long range and added a career-high seven rebounds.

        Toledo shot 42.9 percent from the floor and went 10-for-26 from three-point range. The Rockets held Miami to 39.2 percent on the floor and just 5-of-16 from beyond the arc. UT had 18 assists and just seven turnovers, while the RedHawks tallied just four assists and 11 miscues.

        After trailing 8-7 early in the game, Toledo surged to a 26-10 lead before settling on a 39-30 halftime lead. Miami cut the lead to one, 51-50, midway through the second half but Toledo pulled away down the stretch.

FIRST HALF

Toledo scored the first five points of the game and extended its lead to 19-8 on a layup by Willie Jackson at the 10:04 mark.
Moments later, a fast-break dunk by Jaelan Sanford on a behind-the-back pass from Marreon Jackson pushed Toledo's lead to 23-10 and forced Miami to call a timeout.
The Rockets went into the locker room leading 39-30.
Sanford scored 15 points shot 5-of-7 on the floor, and 2-of-2 from the three-point line in the first half.

SECOND HALF

Miami opened the half with an 11-5 run to cut the lRockets' lead to 44-41 with 13:56 left to play.
The RedHawks reduced their deficit to one point, 49-48, on a short hook shot by Bam Bowman at the 9:55 mark.
Toledo countered with a 10-4 run that was capped by a layup from Luke Knapke to make the score 59-52 and forcing Miami to call a timeout with 6:01 to play.
The Rockets extended the lead to 13 with a three by Spencer Littleson to make the score 69-56 with 2:30 left.
Sanford finished off the Redhawks with a dunk to make the score 71-58 with 41 seconds left to play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Jaelan Sanford moved into a tie for ninth place with Casey Shaw (1994-98) on the Rockets' all-time scoring list with 1,562 points, one more than Tom Kozelko (1970-73).
Nate Navigato is just one three-point field goal away from tying Nick Moore's school record of 276 set from 1999-2003. Navigato also move into fifth place on the MAC's all-time three-point list, one ahead of Ohio's D.J. Cooper (2010-13).
Marreon Jackson grabbed the Rockets' only steals in the contest and finished with a career-high four thefts.
Spencer Littleson tied his career high with four three-point field goals and grabbed a career-best seven boards.
Luke Knapke has scored in double digits in each of the Rockets' four league games.