TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo moved back into first place in the Mid-American Conference with a convincing 77-62 victory over second-place Ohio before a season-high crowd of 5,881 at Savage Arena on Tuesday night. It was the Rockets' second double-digit win of the season over the Bobcats (19-4, 10-2 MAC) and improved Toledo's record to 19-5 overall and 11-2 in league play.
 
"Tonight was a really good win in front of a great home atmosphere," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said after the Rockets posted their 26^th win in their last 27 home games. "I have a lot of respect for Ohio and how good they are. I thought our defense played a big role tonight with the way we defended from start to finish. We got some separation late in the first half and sometimes that's all it takes when two good teams are facing each other."
 
Sophomore Ryan Rollins nearly registered a triple-double to lead the Rockets, finishing with 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and eight assists. Junior Setric Millner Jr. paced Toledo offensively with 18 points, while junior JT Shumate tallied 17 points and a career-high seven blocked shots.
 
Tommy Schmock led the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points. Toledo held Ohio's leading scorer, Mark Sears. to 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
 
Toledo shot the ball well the entire contest, finishing at 56.4 percent after scorching the nets at a 61.5 clip in the first half. The Rockets also dominated the interior with a 47-26 rebounding margin and a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint.
 
The Rockets' aggressive defense stifled the Ohio attack as well, limiting the visitors to a 32.8 shooting mark and blocking nine Bobcat shots.
 
Toledo is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 12 when it travels to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois (6-15, 3-8 MAC). Tipoff time for the contest is set for 3:30 p.m. CT (4:30 ET).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
FIRST HALF

• The Rockets scored the game's five points, but the Bobcats responded with the next eight take an 8-5 lead.
• Toledo went on an 18-4 run midway through the half, capped off by a Ra'Heim Moss layup for a 36-22 Rockets' lead, its largest of the half, with 3:07 remaining.
• A Ryan Rollins jumper with eight seconds left sent Toledo to the locker room with a 38-27 lead.
• RayJ Dennis and Rollins were both 4-for-4 from the floor in the opening half. As a team, the Rockets shot 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the field.
• The Rockets out-rebounded Ohio, 20-12, led by Rollins' six boards.

SECOND HALF

• The Bobcats opened the half with a 7-2 run to cut Toledo's margin to 40-34 with 16:36 remaining.
• The Rockets answered with 10 straight points, the last four coming from Rollins to push the lead to 50-36 with 13:41 remaining.
• Toledo answered a 9-3 Ohio run by scoring seven straight to take a 60-43 lead on Keshaun Saunders' floater with 9:26 left.
• The Bobcats cut the Rockets' lead to 69-62 with 1:41 to play but Toledo scored eight straight points to close out its victory.

 


Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk Post-game.


Sophomore Ryan Rollins Post-game.


Junior JT Shumate Post-game.