MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Toledo men's basketball team nearly pulled off an amazing comeback in the final second but came up just short on Friday evening in a 65-62 loss at Central Michigan. The defeat was the Rockets' first in Mid-American Conference play and leaves UT (11-7, 5-1 MAC) a game behind Akron (14-4, 6-0 MAC) in the league standings.

UT trailed 65-62 with 0.7 seconds left when CMU turned the ball over by throwing the ball out of play on an-inbounds pass. Junior Ra'Heim Moss' game-tying three-point shot rimmed out, though, as Toledo's league-record 20-game conference winning streak came to an end.

"It was an unbelievable accomplishment and shows the consistency of our program," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said about the unbeaten stretch ending. "We've done a lot of things institutionally and conference-wide that haven't been done before that I hope people recognize."

Junior Dante Maddox Jr. led the Rockets with a game-high 21 points, while Moss finished with 15 points. Junior Tyler Cochran tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second-straight double-double.

Junior Anthony Pritchard topped the Chippewas (9-9, 4-2 MAC) with 20 points to go along with nine rebounds.

Toledo shot just 33.9% from the field and was 4-of-20 (20.0%) from three-point range. Central Michigan registered a 42.6 shooting mark and was 3-of-13 (23.1%) behind the arc.

"We didn't finish the way we could in the first half and that led to us getting behind and playing too slow," Kowalczyk said. "Give them some credit, because that's the best Central Michigan team we've faced in a while."

The Rockets return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 23 with a trip to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois (6-11, 0-5 MAC). Tip-off time from the Convocation Center is set for 7:00 p.m. CT with streaming on ESPN+.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• Toledo scored on its opening possession, but CMU answered with eight straight points.
• The Rockets quickly evened the score at 8-8 on Ra'Heim Moss' layup at the 14:17 mark.
• The Chippewas took another six-point lead, but Dante Maddox' layup tied it at 16-16 with 10:00 remaining in the half.
• Toledo fell behind 24-16 before Moss' three-pointer cut UT's deficit to 26-23 just over two minutes before the break.
• CMU held a 30-23 halftime lead by limiting the Rockets to their lowest first-half point total of the season and a 32.1 FG%.

SECOND HALF

• The Chippewas maintained at least a five-point until Moss' layup brought the Rockets within 35-31 with 14:41 to play.
• A Maddox four-point play put Toledo in the lead, 39-37, less than two minutes later.
• The Rockets took their largest lead of the game, 42-39, on Moss' three-point play with 11:55 left.
• CMU followed with a 14-3 run though to take a 53-45 advantage with 7:47 remaining.
• The Rockets couldn't come closer than six points until a Tyler Cochran free throw made the score 63-58 with 1:45 to play.
• Toledo had a chance to tie the score after CMU turned the ball over with 0.7 seconds remaining, but Moss' three-pointer rimmed out.