BACK-TO-BACK! Rockets Capture Second Straight MAC West Title

Tuesday, March 5

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

24-6

Western Michigan

8-22

Western Mich.

Toledo

Junior Willie Jackson tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

Photo by: Will Edmonds

BACK-TO-BACK! Rockets Capture Second Straight MAC West Title

3/5/2019 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo secured its second straight Mid-American Conference West Division title on Tuesday evening with a dominating 76-57 triumph over Western Michigan in Savage Arena. The victory gave the Rockets their 24^th victory of the season, tied for second most in school history and three shy of the school record.

UT is currently tied with Bowling Green for the second-best conference record at 12-5. The Rockets currently possess the No. 2 seed in next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament due to their 78-71 win over the Falcons on Feb. 9.

Senior Nate Navigato's 17 points paced a balanced Toledo offense that featured five players in double figures. He was joined by senior Chris Darrington (12 pts.), sophomore Spencer Littleson (11 pts.), junior Willie Jackson (10 pts.) and sophomore Marreon Jackson (10 pts.).

Willie Jackson also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to register a double-double and help the Rockets to a 35-28 advantage on the boards. Freshman AJ Edu also blocked a season-high six shots, the most by a Rocket since Allen Pinson swatted away seven at Duke on Dec. 12, 2004.

Sophomore Michael Flowers topped Western Michigan with 21 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

Toledo shot 50.0 percent from the field and was 9-of-20 (.450) from behind the three-point arc. WMU finished with a 37.3 shooting mark and was just two-of-14 (.143) from three-point range.

The Rockets will close out their 2018-19 regular season on Friday, March 8 vs. Eastern Michigan (15-15, 9-8 MAC). Tip-off time in Savage Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN-Plus.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

Marreon Jackson's three-point play provided the Rockets their first lead, 7-6, with 16:15 remaining in the first half.
Neither team led by more than three points until Toledo took control of the contest with a 15-2 run for a 29-16 lead with 5:41 remaining in the first half. Spencer Littleson's three and Jaelan Sanford's three-point play ignited the game-deciding spurt.
Nate Navigato's trey gave the Rockets their largest lead of the half, 40-20, at the 2:46 mark.
Toledo took a 42-23 lead to the locker room after finishing with a 53.6 FG% in the first half.

SECOND HALF

The Rockets extended their lead to 54-31 following a Willie Jackson slam just under five minutes into the second half.
Western Michigan reduced its deficit to 14 points on two occasions the rest of the way but couldn't come any closer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

AJ Edu's six blocked shots are the most in the Mid-American Conference this season.
The Rockets are 49-of-98 (.500) from three-point range in their last four games vs. WMU.
Toledo has won four straight meetings vs. Western Michigan for the first time since winning six in a row from Feb. 19, 2000-Jan. 28, 2003.
Five Rockets scored in double digits for the seventh time this season.
Toledo shot 50.0 percent or better from the field for the second straight game.