TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team nearly rallied from a 13-point deficit on Tuesday evening but couldn't quite complete its comeback in a 90-83 defeat to Ball State at Savage Arena in the Mid-American Conference opener for both squads.

"It's obviously a disappointing loss," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "I thought there were two good teams out there playing hard. Our foul shooting was poor in the first half and that let them get out to a lead. I also thought they scored several times at the end of the shot clock which ended up really hurting us."

Junior RayJ Dennis paced the Rockets (9-5, 0-1 MAC) with 21 points and six assists, while sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. contributed 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Senior JT Shumate and sophomore Ra'Heim Moss also finished in double digits with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Junior Jarron Coleman (26 pts.) and senior Demarius Jacobs (25 pts.) combined for 51 points to lead the Cardinals (10-4, 1-0 MAC) to their sixth-straight victory.

"Their two guards had elite nights and were unbelievably efficient," Kowlaczkyk said. "I thought our guards played really well too."

Toledo was efficient on the offensive end, shooting 51.7 percent from the field and committing a season-low four turnovers. BSU shot just as well as the Rockets though with a 52.5 mark and held a 41-21 rebounding advantage.

The Rockets fell behind 24-11 less than nine minutes into the game but ended up trailing by just a 40-37 margin at halftime. Ball State opened the second half with a 9-0 run to again extend its lead into double digits. Shumate scored six straight points to cut Ball State's lead to 78-76 with 2:22 remaining. Toledo couldn't come any closer though, as the visitors hit eight straight free throws down the stretch.

Toledo has a quick turnaround and will return to action on Friday, Jan. 6 to host Western Michigan (4-10, 0-1 MAC) on the CBS Sports Network. Tip-off time is set for 6:30 p.m. in Savage Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Ball State went on a 14-3 spurt to take a 24-11 advantage less than nine minutes into the game.
• The Rockets responded with a 7-0 burst capped off by Setric Millner Jr.'s three-pointer at the 8:53 mark.
• Toledo eventually climbed within 38-35 on Ra'Heim Moss' layup 1:49 before the half.
• Another Moss layup a minute later made the score 40-37.
• Toledo had a chance to cut its halftime deficit to one but RayJ Dennis' shot rimmed out in the final seconds.

SECOND HALF

• Ball State grabbed the momentum back by scoring the first nine points after intermission.
• The Cardinals' lead remained at eight or more until a Moss triple reduced the Rockets' deficit to 59-53 with 11:03 to play.
• Toledo wasn't able to come any closer until JT Shumate tallied six straight points to bring the Rockets within 78-76 with 2:22 remaining. Shumate was fouled on a three-pointer and connected on all three free throws at the 2:55 mark and then followed that up with a three-point play.
• Demarius Jacobs then knocked down two free throws for BSU, but Dante Maddox Jr. brought UT within 80-78 with a coast-to-coast layup with 1:23 to play.
• After a Jacobs' layup put Toledo down 82-78, the Rockets committed a turnover and couldn't come any closer.