CLEVELAND, Ohio – Senior Marreon Jackson scored 29 points to lead Toledo to a 91-89 overtime victory over Ball State in quarterfinal action of the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in Cleveland on Thursday.
 
The victory moves the No. 1 seed Rockets (21-7) into the semifinals against No. 5 seed Ohio, which defeated No. 4 Kent State, 85-63.
 
Jackson, the MAC Player of the Year, added six rebounds, four assists and three steals, and made a career-high 11-of-12 free throw attempts. He led a balanced attack, with five Rockets scoring at least 12 points. Junior JT Shumate added 16 points, while freshman Ryan Rollins scored seven of his 14 points in overtime.
 
No. 8 seed Ball State (10-13) sent the game into overtime with a layup at the buzzer by Jarron Coleman. The Cardinals took their first lead of the game by scoring the first five points in overtime, but Toledo answered by outscoring BSU 12-5 the rest of the way. Rollins' three-pointer at the 2:38 mark gave Toledo an 85-84 lead. He followed that up with a pair buckets that pushed the lead to 91-86 with less than a minute to play.
 
The Cardinals trailed by two points and had one last chance when Miryne Thomas intentionally missed the second of two free throws with 0.8 seconds on the clock. Brachen Hazen's tip-in attempt was no good, sealing the victory for Toledo.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Toledo jumped out to a 10-0 lead, forcing Ball State to call timeout at the 17:10 mark.
• The Cardinals countered with a 12-6 run that trimmed the Rocket lead to 16-12 at the second media timeout.
• A three-point play by BSU's KJ Walton tied the score at 22-22 with 8:04 to play.
• The Rockets closed out the half with a 13-6 run to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room.
• Toledo had balanced scoring in the first half, with six players scoring at least five points, led by Marreon Jackson's nine.

SECOND HALF

• The Rockets opened the half shooting 1-of-13 from the floor, which opened the door for a 10-3 Ball State run that evened the score at 44-44 at the 14:17 mark.
• Jackson spurred the Toledo counterattack, hitting a driving layup and a three-pointer to build the Rocket lead back to 10, 65-55, with 5:49 left.
• Ball State whittled away at the lead, pulling to within three, 74-71, on a putback by Jarron Coleman. The Cardinals tied the score at 77-77 on a pair of free throws by Brachen Hazen with 33 seconds left.
• Jackson gave Toledo the lead with a pair of free throws with five seconds left before Coleman tied the game with a layup at the buzzer.

OVERTIME

• The Cardinals took their first lead of the game, 84-79, by scoring the first five points in overtime,
• Setric Millner Jr. answered with a three-point play, followed by a Rollins' three-pointer with 2:38 left that gave Toledo a one-point lead. Moments later, Rollins hit a pair buckets that extended the Toledo lead to 91-86 with less than a minute to play.
• After BSU's Coleman made a layup to cut the lead to 91-88, Jackson missed on a drive that was rebounded by the Cardinals with 16 seconds left.
• Ball State missed a pair of three-point attempts before Miryne Thomas was fouled with 0.8 left on the clock.
• Thomas made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. Hazen got a hand on the rebound, but his tip-in attempt was no good.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Senior Spencer Littleson scored 12 points and hit four three-point field goals to give him 100 this season. That total breaks Marreon Jackson' school record for three-point field goals (99) in a season he set last season.
• Setric Millner Jr. scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
• Toledo is 9-1 when five or more Rockets score in double digits.
• The Rockets knocked down 10 three-pointers for the 20^th time this season. 

 

Highlights from the MAC Quarterfinals vs Ball State.


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk Post-game.


Senior Marreon Jackson Post-game.