Rockets Pull Out 76-72 Victory Over CMU

Saturday, January 26

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

16-4 (4-3MAC)

Central Michigan

14-6 (3-4MAC)

Central Mich.

Toledo

Jaelan Sanford paced the Rockets with 22 points in a 76-72 victory over Central Michigan.

Photo by: Will Edmonds

1/26/2019 9:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

Toledo, Ohio – Senior guard Jaelan Sanford scored 22 points and junior Luke Knapke added 21 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to give Toledo (16-4, 4-3 MAC) a 76-72 victory over Central Michigan (14-6, 3-4 MAC) in Savage Arena Saturday night. The victory moved the Rockets into a first-place tie in the MAC's West Division with Northern Illinois (11-9, 4-3 MAC).

        The game wasn't settled until the final moments when senior forward Nate Navigato made a pair of free throws to give Toledo a 74-70 lead with six seconds left. CMU made a quick layup but was unable to foul on the ensuing inbounds as sophomore guard Marreon Jackson completed a long pass to junior forward Willie Jackson for a dunk at the buzzer.

        Willie Jackson (12 points, 11 rebounds) joined Knapke with a double-double for the contest. Marreon Jackson added 14 points.

Senior guard Larry Austin, Jr. paced the Chippewas with 18 points (on 7-of-19 shooting) and also dished out a team-high seven assists.

        Toledo outrebounded CMU, 51-41, and held the Chippewas to just 26-of-71 shooting (36.6 percent) from the floor. Toledo's defense added a school-record 11 blocked shots, led by four from Knapke and three by Willie Jackson.

FIRST HALF

Central Michigan came out of the first media timeout with a 15-2 run capped off by a jumper from David Dileo, forcing Toledo to call a timeout trailing 17-7 with 11:57 remaining in the first half.
Toledo responded with a 10-2 spurt to cut the lead to 19-17. Luke Knapke had six points in the run.
The Rockets took the lead with a 7-0 burst that started with a three-point-jump shot by Jaelan Sanford to make the score 24-21 with 5:47 left in the half.
Toledo took a 34-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Sanford led the Rockets with 14 points in the half.
The Rockets outrebounded the Chippewas 28-16 in the first 20 minutes.

SECOND HALF

Toledo came out of the locker room with a 9-2 run capped off by Sanford's jumper and made free throw to give the Rockets their largest lead of the evening - a 43-32 cushion with 16:56 left to play.
The Chippewas took a 53-51 on a three-pointer by Rob Montgomery that capped a 9-2 run with 11:11 remaining.
The Rockets responded with a 7-0 spurt capped off by a three-point jump shot from Marreon Jackson to take a 58-53 lead with 8:11 remaining.
The teams traded baskets until CMU tied the game at 67-67 with a three-point-shot by Dallas Morgan with 2:10 left.
An alley-oop slam by Luke Knapke from Marreon Jackson gave the Rockets a 71-67 with 15 seconds remaining.
CMU had the ball with Toledo leading 72-69 with 10 seconds left when Coach Tod Kowalczyk opted to foul. CMU's Shawn Roundtree split a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 72-70.
A pair of free throws by Nate Navigato gave the Rockets a 74-70 lead with six seconds left. CMU cut the lead to 74-72 on a quick layup by Larry Austin but was unable to stop the clock with a foul as Willie Jackson put an exclamation point on the victory with a slam dunk at the buzzer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Rockets have won their last four meetings vs. the Chippewas.
Toledo's 11 blocked shots were one more than the previous school record established vs. Detroit Mercy on Feb. 10, 1992. The Rockets' record for rejections in a MAC contest was nine.
A pair of Rockets collected double-doubles in a game for the first time since Jordan Lauf (16 pts.-14 reb.) and Steve Taylor, Jr. (15 pts.-10 reb.) did vs. CMU on Feb. 24, 2017.
Willie Jackson's double-double was his eighth of the season.
Luke Knapke is averaging 19.7 ppg and 9.3 rpg in his last three games.
Toledo's five three-point field goals and 20.0 three-point FG% were both season lows.