TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo sent out seniors Willie Jackson and Luke Knapke in style with a dominating 79-57 triumph over Eastern Michigan (16-15, 6-12 MAC) in its regular-season finale at Savage Arena on Friday.

The victory gave the Rockets (16-15, 8-10 MAC) the No. 7 seed in the 2020 Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and a home matchup vs. No. 10 seed Western Michigan on Monday, March 9. The game time for that contest will be determined following the Toledo women's game vs. Northern Illinois tomorrow afternoon.

"It was a great way to send out Willie and Luke and finish our regular season in such a positive fashion," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We're looking forward to the postseason. Right now I think we are as healthy as we've been and playing well. Western Michigan is a good talented team, and we're excited about the chance to play them."

Juniors Marreon Jackson and Spencer Littleson paced the Rocket attack with 26 and 19 points, respectively. The senior tandem of Willie Jackson (16 pts.-15 reb.) and Knapke (16 pts.-12 reb.) each posted double-doubles to enable Toledo to post a dominating 43-28 advantage in the rebounding department.

Willie Jackson also dished out a career-high seven assists as the Rockets collected 18 assists on 24 field goals.

Both teams registered an identical 40.7 field-goal percentages, but Toledo was nearly perfect from the free-throw line by sinking 21-of-22 attempts.

The Rockets led for nearly the entire contest and held a 32-26 halftime lead. Toledo pulled away in the early stages of the second half and led by as many as 30 points down the stretch to split its season series vs. the Eagles.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF

• Toledo fell behind 6-2 early, but back-to-back three-pointers from Luke Knapke and Marreon Jackson put the Rockets in front, 13-8, just over five minutes in.
• The Rockets extended their margin to 21-12 midway through the half with an 8-2 spurt that was keyed by treys from Jackson and Spencer Littleson.
• Toledo hit a dry spell for the next 3:30, allowing the Eagles to climb within 21-19.
• Two layups from Willie Jackson and a pair of Marreon Jackson ended the drought and pushed the Rockets' cushion to 27-19 4:10 before halftime.
• Thomas Binelli's fourth three-pointer brought the Eagles within 27-24 but Toledo took a 32-26 lead to the locker room after Knapke's three-point play at the 1:21 mark.

SECOND HALF

• Littleson's trey capped off a quick start after intermission that led to a 42-29 Rocket advantage less than four minutes into the second half.
• Toledo didn't trail by double digits the remainder of the evening.
• Five more points from Littleson extended the Toledo's lead to 47-31 with 12:46 remaining.
• The Rockets' largest point differential came after a pair of Knapke free throws put UT ahead 77-47 with 3:13 to play.

Highlights from Toledo's victory against Eastern Michigan.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Junior Marreon Jackson post-game.