Rockets' Comeback Bid Falls Short to NIU, 66-61

Tuesday, February 4

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

11-12 (3-7MAC)

Northern Illinois

14-9 (7-3MAC)

Northern Ill.

Toledo

Junior Spencer Littleson scored 12 points with four treys vs. Northern Illinois.

Photo by: Haley Boehm

2/4/2020 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo tried to rally down the stretch, but Northern Illinois senior Eugene German came up with an answer each time in the Rockets' 66-61 setback to the Huskies on Tuesday night in Savage Arena.

"I can't fault our effort," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "This is unchartered territory for our program. We haven't been through a tough stretch like this, but our guys have battled and stayed together. I'm really proud of our leadership and core group. They are guys that care and need to have something good happen."

German, who entered tonight's contest averaging a MAC-best 19.6 ppg, finished with 25 points for the MAC West Division co-leaders (14-9, 7-3 MAC) with nine of those coming in the final five minutes.

"We got beat by a really good team tonight," Kowalczyk said. "Eugene German may have had the best game that I've seen him play against us. He played under control tonight, made the right decisions and made big plays down the stretch."

Seniors Willie Jackson and Luke Knapke led the Rockets (11-12, 3-7 MAC) in scoring with 15 points apiece. Juniors Marreon Jackson and Spencer Littleson also finished in double digits with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Littleson finished 4-of-7 from three-point range after missing the last two contests due to injury.

"It was huge for us to get Spencer back in our lineup," Kowalczyk said. "Anybody that's seen him play knows how valuable he is for us."

Willie Jackson led the Rockets' rebounding efforts with nine, but the MAC's top rebounding unit held a 31-29 advantage on the boards thanks to senior Lacey James' 13 rebounds.

Toledo returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 8 when it visits arch-rival Bowling Green in the Battle of I-75. Tip-off time in the Stroh Center is set for 4:30 p.m

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

Toledo jumped out to an early 12-6 lead just over seven minutes into the contest thanks to seven points from Luke Knapke.
The Rockets maintained that advantage until Northern Illinois scored five straight points to lead 20-18 with seven minutes left in the half.
Knapke's three-point play put Toledo back in front 21-20 but a Eugene German three-pointer gave the Huskies a 25-21 lead at the five-minute mark.
The Rockets answered with a Spencer Littleson trey and Marreon Jackson floater to take back the lead, 26-25, less than a minute later.
NIU ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-26 halftime advantage.

SECOND HALF

Back-to-back three-pointers from Littleson and two free throws from Willie Jackson gave the Rockets a 39-37 lead just over three minutes into the second half.
NIU's Lacey James responded with five straight points to give the Huskies back the lead, 42-39, with 14:45 remaining.
Toledo trailed 49-41 at the 10-minute mark but Keshaun Saunders' trey culminated an 11-3 spurt to knot the score at 52-52 with 5:14 to play.
Noah McCarty and German then buried three-pointers on the Huskies' next two possessions to put the Rockets down 58-52 a minute later.
Toledo fought back to within 60-58 on Willie Jackson's hook shot in the paint with 1:50 remaining.
The Rockets then had a chance to tie the score but Marreon Jackson's jumper in the lane rimmed out with 1:07 left.
German scored NIU's next four points to put Toledo down 64-58. Marreon Jackson's three with eight seconds left made it a one-possession game, but the Huskies hit two free throws to seal the game.