TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo's backcourt combined for 56 points to lift the Rockets to their eighth-straight win, an 84-76 triumph over third-place Akron (13-6, 6-3 MAC) on Friday night before a season-high 5,489 fans in Savage Arena. The victory kept the Rockets (17-4 ,9-1 MAC) in first place in the Mid-American Conference, one game in front of second-place Ohio (16-3, 7-1 MAC).
 
"It was a very good win against an Akron team that was hot and had won four in a row," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk after the Rockets won for the 25th time in last 26 home games. "We were able to get some separation in the second half, but then Akron came back by hitting some tough threes. I thought our student section was great tonight and really provided us some energy."
  
Sophomore Ryan Rollins paced Toledo offensively with 21 points, including 17 in the final 11 minutes. Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss tallied a season-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and also dished out five assists. Junior RayJ Dennis scored 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and collected five assists.
 
"Ra'Heim was great at both ends of the floor tonight, and RayJ Dennis was great as well," Kowalczyk said. "Ryan had four points with 11 minutes left and finished with 21. It was a great team effort and I'm proud of all of our guys."
 
Junior Bryan Trimble Jr. led the Zips in scoring with 18 points, with sophomore Enrique Freeman notching a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Toledo shot 58.9 percent from the field, marking the third game in a row the Rockets have made over half of their shots. Akron posted a 43.8 shooting mark but was limited to a 28.0 three-point FG% (7-of-28).  The Rockets also held an edge at the charity stripe, making 13-of-17 free throws compared to the Zips' 13-of-23 totals.
 
Toledo held a 46-37 halftime advantage after making 11 of its 12 shots in the opening stanza. The Rockets then opened the second half with a 7-0 spurt and led by as many as 19 points. The Zips rallied to within four points (72-68) with 5:12 remaining, but Rollins scored seven straight points to push Toledo's lead back to 80-71 for some much-needed breathing room.
 
The Rockets are on the road next week for two games. Toledo will play at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, Feb. 1 before visiting Ball State on Friday, Feb. 4. 
 
How It Happened
 
First Half

• Ra'heim Moss scored six points early to put the Rockets in front 16-10. 
• Akron went on a quick 7-1 run to tie the game, 17-17, on Ali Ali's layup with 11:12 left in the half. 
• The teams traded baskets for the next six minutes before JT Shumate's layup capped off a 12-0 Toledo spurt for a 39-30 advantage. 
• RayJ Dennis' layup as time expired gave the Rockets a 46-37 lead at the half. 
• Toledo shot 61.3 percent in the opening 20 minutes,

Second Half

• Toledo came out of the locker room on fire with Moss' reverse layup extending the Rockets' lead to 53-37. 
• Moss' slam culminated an 8-0 burst and extended Toledo's lead to 68-49 with 8:54 remaining. 
• Akron responded with a 10-0 run to cut the Rockets' lead to 70-64, at the 6:25 mark.
• The Zips then closed within 72-68 on Enrique Freeman's two free throws with 5:12 left.
• Rollins answered with a triple to increase Toledo's margin back up to eight just over a minute later.

Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk post-game.


Sophomore Ryan Rollins post-game.


Freshman Ra'Heim Moss post-game.