FINDLAY, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team pulled away in the second half to register a 75-68 triumph over NCAA Division II power Findlay on Sunday afternoon in an exhibition game in Niekamp Arena inside Croy Gymnasium. The contest raised $2,500 for United Way of the Greater Dayton Area and served as the Rockets' final tuneup prior to opening their regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at Valparaiso.
"I wanted to play Findlay on the road so we could get better and we did," Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk said. "We were down seven at halftime and our guys stayed together. We cut down our turnovers in the second half and that limited the transition points they were scoring. I'd like to play exhibitions on the road like this more often, because it was an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes by playing a team that's well-coached in a loud environment."
Senior
Luke Knapke led the Rockets with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds, while junior
Marreon Jackson tallied 13 points and six boards. Senior
Willie Jackson also notched a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Junior
Spencer Littleson and redshirt freshman
Keshaun Saunders also scored in double digits with 11 points each.
Senior Aaron Overhiser topped Findlay with 15 points.
The Rockets trailed much of the first half and a 7-0 spurt by the Oilers right before halftime gave the hosts a 34-27 lead at intermission. Toledo quickly evened the score at 39-39 early in the second half thanks to a 10-3 spurt keyed by treys from
Marreon Jackson and Littleson. The Rockets then snapped a 41-41 tie and took the lead for good following a transition layup from
Marreon Jackson and a putback from
Willie Jackson.
Toledo broke the game open in the game's final seven minutes with a 13-0 burst that resulted in a 71-54 lead with just over three minutes remaining.
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