TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team dominated the boards and locked down on defense on Saturday evening to register a 67-59 victory over Western Michigan in its Mid-American Conference home opener.

"This was a must-win game for us," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We knew our backs were against the wall after starting out 0-2 in league play. Our guys weren't going to panic, because they understood that we had played five of our last six games on the road against some good teams. This is a team that believes in itself and trusts each other."
 
Seniors Willie Jackson and Luke Knapke each posted double-doubles to lead the Rockets (9-7, 1-2 MAC) to a 46-29 cushion on the glass.  Jackson tallied 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Knapke scored a team-high 14 points to go along with 10 boards. Also scoring in double digits were junior Spencer Littleson (12 pts.), junior Marreon Jackson (12 pts.) and redshirt freshman Keshaun Saunders (10 pts.).

Marreon Jackson also dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds while playing with the flu for 35 minutes.

"I'm so proud of Marreon," Kowalczyk said. "He had a bad case of the flu at three in the morning, missed this morning's shootaround and has had only liquids today. He gets the game ball tonight for just fighting through that and playing well."
 
Junior Brandon Johnson topped WMU offensively with 23 points. Toledo held the Broncos' leading scorer, Michael Flowers, to 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
 
Toledo held WMU to a 36.5 field-goal percentage, while making 48.2 percent of its shots. The Rockets stymied the Bronco attack for much of the second half as WMU scored 11 of its 27 second-half points in the final two minutes.
 
A 9-0 run midway spanning nearly seven minutes put the Rockets in front 52-40 with 6:30 left. The closest Western Michigan came down the stretch was seven points with 42 seconds remaining.
 
Toledo will be back home again on Tuesday night when it hosts Central Michigan. Tip-off time in Savage Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Toledo led by five points on two occasions in a competitive opening 20 points before heading to the locker room tied at 32-32.
• Marreon Jackson's layup put the Rockets in front, 12-7, just under six minutes into the game.
• After WMU cut Toledo's lead to 22-21 at the 8:29 mark, a pair of Spencer Littleson jumpers gave the Rockets their second five-point cushion.
• Michael Flowers knocked down a three-pointer to give the Broncos their first lead, 28-26, 4:26 before halftime.
• Dylan Alderson's layup put the Rockets ahead 32-30 with 39 seconds remaining but WMU tied the score right before the buzzer.

SECOND HALF

• The Rockets started the second half strong, hitting four of their first seven shots to take a 43-38 lead.
• Western Michigan then missed nine straight shots as part of Toledo's 9-0 spurt that gave the Rockets control of the contest.
• Keshaun Saunders' three-point field goal increased the Rockets' lead to 57-44, and Littleson hit two free throws to give Toledo a 59-44 advantage with 3:47 remaining.

Highlights from Toledo's win over Western Michigan.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Senior Luke Knapke post-game.