TOLEDO, Ohio – Sophomore Javan Simmons nearly registered a double-double to help the Toledo men's basketball team remain undefeated in Mid-American Conference play with a 69-67 victory over Central Michigan (6-9, 0-3 MAC) on Friday night in Savage Arena. The victory was the Rockets' third straight and improved their record to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in the MAC.
 
The Chippewas had a chance to tie the score at the buzzer, but Kyle Vanderjagt's jumper from the left wing was short. Toledo trailed by as many as eight points in the first half before recovering to take a 34-30 lead at intermission.

"We won tonight's game on the defensive end, and it was a heck of a win," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "I thought we were rattled by Central Michigan's physical play in the first eight minutes, but then we hunkered down and matched their physicality after that. Javan Simmons' and Isaiah Adams' energy on the defensive end was fantastic tonight."
 
Simmons ended his workmanlike evening with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots in 33 minutes. Also scoring in double figures for the Rockets were sophomores Sam Lewis (15 pts.), Sonny Wilson (11 pts.) and Bryce Ford (10 pts.).
 
Toledo shot 49.0% from the field and 30.8% (4-of-13) from three-point range and limited the Chippewas to a 44.4 FG% and 23.8 mark (5-of-21) from behind the arc.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

• CMU made four of its first five shots to jump out to a 10-2 lead.
• A three-pointer by Sam Lewis and four free throws by Javan Simmons cut the Chippewas' lead to 10-9.
• A 9-2 run extended CMU's advantage to 19-11, but the Rockets countered with a pair of three-pointers by Bryce Ford and two mid-range jumpers from Sam Lewis to tie the score at 21-21 at the 6:31 media timeout.
• The score stayed tight for the rest of the half until an Isaiah Adams' triple with 1:34 left gave Toledo a 34-30 halftime lead.
• Lewis led the Rockets with nine first-half points, followed by Simmons with eight.

SECOND HALF

• Toledo's lead fluctuated between four and six points in the first six minutes of the second half until Seth Hubbard's three-point play and Adams' short jumper increased the margin to 49-40 with 12:16 left.
• CMU punched right back, going on a 7-0 run to trim the lead to 49-47.
• The Rockets continued to hold onto the lead, extending it to eight, 64-56, on a Simmons layup with 4:22 left.
• CMU cut the lead in half, 68-65, on a three-pointer with 1:21 left.
• After Sonny Wilson split a pair of free throws, CMU knocked down two from the stripe with 35 seconds left to trim the lead to 69-67.
• A Chippewa steal on the ensuing inbounds play set up a final chance for CMU, but Wilson forced Kyler Vanderjagt into an awkward shot that fell far short.

ROCKET ROUNDUP

• Toledo is 65-13 (.833) in league play since the start of the 2020-21 season. The Rockets are 36-4 (.900) in MAC home games and 29-9 (.763) in MAC road games.
• Toledo has won six of its last seven meetings vs. the Chippewas.
• The Rockets are 8-0 when leading at halftime and 7-1 when shooting 45% or better this season.
• Sam Lewis and Sonny Wilson have each scored in double figures in 14 of 15 games this season.

UP NEXT
The Rockets begin a stretch of playing four of their next five games on the road with a trip to Northeast Ohio to face Akron (9-5, 2-0 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 14.