CINCINNATI, Ohio – Toledo controlled play for the majority of its season opener but a last-second shot from Bradley's Terry Nolan Jr. sent the Rockets to a 61-59 setback in their first game of the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati on Wednesday.

Junior Setric Millner Jr. led the way offensively in his Toledo debut, tallying 17 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists in 31 minutes. Also scoring in double digits for the Rockets were senior Marreon Jackson (15 pts., team-high five assists), senior Spencer Littleson (10 pts.) and freshman Ryan Rollins (10 pts.). Junior Jonathan Komagum led Toledo with seven rebounds in 12 minutes in his first game in a Midnight Blue and Gold uniform.

Bradley also put four players in double figures with senior Elijah Childs notching a team-best 14 points. Nolan finished with 10 points, including his game-winning runner with 0.8 seconds left.

Toledo had rallied from a 58-53 deficit with 2:41 remaining before Nolan's shot. Millner began the comeback with a jumper in the lane and Littleson followed with a three-pointer at the 1:50 mark to make it a one-point game. Rollins then evened the score by hitting one of two free throws with 38.5 seconds left.

"I thought we played really well for a high majority of the game," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We obviously would like to have the first four minutes back but outside of that we played really good basketball. I thought our shot selection at times in the second half could have been a little better but that may have been due to rust and this being our first game. It was a very good basketball game between two quality teams."

Toledo knocked down 37.9 percent (11-of-29) of its three-point shots but finished with a 33.3 overall shooting mark and was just 4-of-8 from the charity stripe. Bradley shot 40.7 percent from the field, 23.8 percent (5-of-21) behind the three-point arc and was 8-of-10 at the free-throw line.

The Rockets are back in action tomorrow afternoon with a 3:15 p.m. matchup vs. Horizon League foe Oakland (0-1) before concluding play in the tournament vs. host Xavier on Friday at Noon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Toledo fell behind 10-2 in the opening four minutes before going on an 11-0 run to take a 13-10 lead. Keshaun Saunders, Spencer Littleson and Marreon Jackson hit consecutive triples during the burst.
• The Rockets built their advantage to 28-16 just a minute before halftime with a 10-0 spurt, thanks to seven points from Millner and three from Rollins.
• The Braves closed the half with a pair of baskets to cut Toledo's cushion at intermission to 28-20.

SECOND HALF

• Bradley carried its momentum into the second half and cut Toledo's lead to 32-31 before Jackson buried a three-pointer from the right wing for a 35-31 lead with 14:24 remaining.
• Ville Tahvanainen's trey gave the Braves their first lead of the second stanza, 39-38, with 12:47 left.
• After the lead changed hands three times, Toledo appeared ready to take back control with a 7-0 run capped off by a Rollins' three-pointer resulting in a 47-41 lead with 8:09 to play.
• Millner then hit his second triple for a 50-46 lead a minute later but Bradley responded with a 7-0 spurt of its own for a three-point cushion with 4:34 to play.
• Millner came up big again with his third triple to knot the score at 53-53 11 seconds later, but the Braves answered with five straight points.
• Toledo rallied to even the score at 59-59, but the Braves captured the win with Nolan's last-second shot.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Toledo lost its season opener for the second-straight season by two points.
• The Rockets held a lead for 23:06, while Bradley led for 14:45.
• The Rockets committed just nine turnovers and forced the Braves into 15 miscues.
• Bradley held a slight 43-39 edge on the boards, but Toledo held a 19-12 advantage in second-chance points and a 19-8 cushion in points off turnovers.
• Marreon Jackson has scored in double figures in a career-high 22 straight games.
• Sophomore AJ Edu tallied a team-high two blocks as well as six rebounds in his first game after sitting out the 2019-20 season due to injury.