DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Six Rockets scored in double figures as the Toledo men's basketball team unleashed an offensive explosion in a 103-78 victory over Stetson (1-4) on Thursday night in its opening-round game at the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Rockets (4-1) will now face Jacksonville State (4-1) in tomorrow's semifinals at the Ocean Center at 5:30 p.m.
"We came out with a lot of energy tonight and were unbelievably efficient," said Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk after the Rockets' fourth-straight win. "It's nice to get a big win to open the tournament with three games in three days. We're going to have a different type of game tomorrow. It will be very physical."
Sophomore
Sonny Wilson paced UT offensively with 21 points and six assists. Junior
Seth Hubbard contributed a season-high 17 points, with sophomore
Sam Lewis (15 pts.), fifth-year senior
Isaiah Adams (12 pts.), sophomore
Javan Simmons (11 pts.) and sophomore
Bryce Ford (10 pts.) also scoring in double digits.
Toledo shot a season-high 56.9% from the field and buried a season-best 13 three-point field goals. Seven different Rockets connected from three-point range, with Hubbard and Lewis leading the way with three triples each.
The Rockets' efficient offense committed just five turnovers. UT also registered 10 steals and forced the Hatters into 17 turnovers, leading to a 24-9 advantage in the points off turnovers department.
Toledo held a 51-35 advantage at halftime and led by 10 or more points for the game's final minutes.
Josh Massey led Stetson with 16 points off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Sam Lewis scored the Rockets' first eight points to help UT lead by an 8-6 margin at the first media timeout.
- Seth Hubbard scored eight points to key a 9-3 spurt that put the Rockets in front 22-13 at the 11:22 mark.
- Isaiah Adams' driving layup and three-pointer ignited a 9-0 burst to increase Toledo's cushion to 34-17 with seven minutes remaining in the half.
- A Bryce Ford triple gave UT its largest lead of the half, 41-21, 5:41 before intermission.
- Sonny Wilson scored the Rockets' final five points of the half to put Toledo's lead at 51-35.
SECOND HALF
- Andre Lorentsson's three-pointer increased the Rockets' margin to 66-45 just over four minutes into the second half.
- Toledo expanded its margin to 27 points, 78-51, with an 8-0 spurt capped off by Ford's layup.
- The Rockets hit the 100-point mark on Grgur Brcic's three-point play with just over five minutes remaining.