Saturday, January 24
Toledo, Ohio
5:00 p.m.
University of Toledo
11-9,5-3MAC
73
vs
72
Bowling Green
13-7,4-4MAC
1
2
F
Bowling Green
38
34
72
Toledo
39
34
73
Team Stats
BGSU
UT
FG%
.527
.403
3FG%
.353
.320
FT%
.667
.917
RB
39
29
TO
16
7
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. (center) is mobbed by his teammates after hitting a game-winning three-pointer in Toledo's 73-72 win over Bowling Green.
Photo by: Nathan Snook
Rockets Clip Falcons, 73-72, in Battle of I-75 Thriller in Savage Arena
1/24/2026 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. scores team-high 19 points, including game-winning three with 7.7 seconds left
TOLEDO, Ohio – Freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. hit a game-winning three-pointer with 7.7 seconds left to lift the Toledo men's basketball team to a 73-72 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green before a season-high 6,850 fans in Savage Arena in the Battle of I-75 sponsored by Fremont Federal Credit Union.
Blyden's triple capped off a furious rally by the Rockets (11-9, 5-3 MAC), who trailed the Falcons (13-7, 4-4 MAC), 71-64, with 4:36 remaining. Senior Kyler Vanderjagt hit a three with 3:26 left to cut BG's lead to four. Senior Sean Craig then buried another three-pointer at the 1:27 mark to set the stage for Blyden's heroics.
Blyden topped Toledo offensively with 19 points in addition to adding five assists and four rebounds. Junior Austin Parks contributed 14 points, six boards, and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Craig scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Vanderjagt tallied 10 points and a team-high three steals.
The contest featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, with Toledo holding a slim 39-38 halftime lead. The Rockets extended that margin to six points with 11:17 to play before the Falcons rallied down the stretch.
Bowling Green's Javontae Campbell scored a game-high 29 points and dished out a game-best eight assists.
QUOTING HEAD COACH TOD KOWALCZYK:
"It's a special win. We had a great crowd, a great student section and we won in dramatic fashion with the students storming the court. It's obviously a huge win for our players, our fans, and mostly for our students. We had just lost two winnable close games on the road against two really good teams and then we were facing another good team in a rivalry game. We some winning plays tonight, and I'm not sure we did that against Kent State or UMass."
TOP PERFORMERS
Toledo will travel to Akron, Ohio to battle the second-place Zips (16-4, 7-1 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m. The Rockets will then return home to host Ball State (7-13, 3-5 MAC) in the ninth-annual 'Rockets for Life' game on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 12:00 p.m.
Blyden's triple capped off a furious rally by the Rockets (11-9, 5-3 MAC), who trailed the Falcons (13-7, 4-4 MAC), 71-64, with 4:36 remaining. Senior Kyler Vanderjagt hit a three with 3:26 left to cut BG's lead to four. Senior Sean Craig then buried another three-pointer at the 1:27 mark to set the stage for Blyden's heroics.
Blyden topped Toledo offensively with 19 points in addition to adding five assists and four rebounds. Junior Austin Parks contributed 14 points, six boards, and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Craig scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Vanderjagt tallied 10 points and a team-high three steals.
The contest featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, with Toledo holding a slim 39-38 halftime lead. The Rockets extended that margin to six points with 11:17 to play before the Falcons rallied down the stretch.
Bowling Green's Javontae Campbell scored a game-high 29 points and dished out a game-best eight assists.
QUOTING HEAD COACH TOD KOWALCZYK:
"It's a special win. We had a great crowd, a great student section and we won in dramatic fashion with the students storming the court. It's obviously a huge win for our players, our fans, and mostly for our students. We had just lost two winnable close games on the road against two really good teams and then we were facing another good team in a rivalry game. We some winning plays tonight, and I'm not sure we did that against Kent State or UMass."
TOP PERFORMERS
- Leroy Blyden Jr.: 19 pts., 5 asst., 4 reb.
- Austin Parks: 14 pts., 6 reb., 6-6 FT
- Sean Craig: 13 pts., 7 reb., 3-5 3FG
- Kyler Vanderjagt: 10 pts., 3 stls.
- Field-Goal %: Toledo 40.9%, BGSU 52.7%
- Three-Point FG%: Toledo 8-25 (32.0%), BGSU 6-17 (35.3%)
- Free Throws: Toledo 11-12 (91.7%), BGSU 8-12 (66.7%)
- Rebounds: BGSU 38, Toledo 29
- Assists/Turnovers: Toledo 12/8, BGSU 12/16
- Toledo now leads its all-time series vs. Bowling Green by a 100-85 margin.
- Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk's 17-8 record (.680) is the best for a Rockets' head coach vs. the Falcons in program history.
- The Rockets are 3-5 in games decided by five points or less.
- Leroy Blyden Jr. has scored in double figures in season-high 10 consecutive games.
- Austin Parks has scored in double digits in a career-high seven straight games.
Toledo will travel to Akron, Ohio to battle the second-place Zips (16-4, 7-1 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m. The Rockets will then return home to host Ball State (7-13, 3-5 MAC) in the ninth-annual 'Rockets for Life' game on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 12:00 p.m.
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