Rockets survive

BOWLING GREEN — The University of Toledo men’s basketball team survived Bowling Green 81-74 on the road to win the Battle of I-75.

The win marks the fifth-straight victory against the Falcons since 2013.

The game saw three ties and eight second-half lead changes, as well as a loud, enthusiastic crowd throughout the game.

“This was the definition of a MAC grind-out win,” said head coach Todd Kowalczyk. “I don’t think either team played particularly well, but both played extremely hard. For us to get a win against our rival after not playing our best game is something we’re happy with.”

UT (12-6, 3-2 MAC) was led by senior center Nathan Boothe with 23 points and eight rebounds. Joining him in double figures was sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting and no turnovers just a week after going 1-8 from the field against NIU.

Junior Jonathan Williams and freshman Jaelan Sanford joined with 14 and 10, respectively.

Bowling Green (12-6, 3-2 MAC) was led by junior guard Zack Denny with 19 points and three steals.

Denny lit it up from the field in the first half, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and going to the locker room with 15 points. The second half was a different story as he was held to just 1-of-6 shooting and four points.

Williams struggled taking care of the ball committing six turnovers and was 5-of-14 from the field.

“He didn’t play well,” Kowalczyk said, “but he kept playing and stayed positive. I’m proud of the way he’s matured. He was also going up against the best defender in the MAC, and I don’t think he was ready for that.”

Boothe started off the game with a 3-pointer from the corner to get UT on the board first. The Rockets opened the game on a 7-0 run before BG cut the score to one point by the first media timeout.

After the break, the Rockets jumped out to a 16-7 lead. BG stormed back to tie things up at 16 apiece following a Denny steal and layup.

However, Toledo wasn’t willing to give up the lead and went on a 13-0 streak over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take a 29-16 lead after back-to-back threes from Williams and Mosley.

Williams started to heat up from the field, knocking down his next two shots from three-point land, helping extend the UT lead to 35-23.

The Falcons responded with a 13-3 run to cut the deficit to two points with under three minutes left in the first half.

After a pair of Mosley free throws, the Rockets finished the last 2:30 scoreless, allowing BGSU to tie the lead 40-40 at the break.

The Falcons came out of the locker room with momentum and jumped out to their first lead of the night, 43-42 following a Jospeh trey.

Toledo reclaimed the lead at 49-48 with a layup in the lane by Williams three minutes into the second half.

The two would trade the lead over the next few minutes until the Rockets went on a 13-2 run to gain control at 66-56, following back-to-back threes by Mosley and Navagato halfway through the period.

The Falcons kept the pressure on, cutting the UT lead to 72-66 with under five to play.

A pair of Denny free throws cut the lead to 74-71 with just over 2:30 remaining.

Toledo proved to be too much for the Falcons, refusing to relinquish the lead and going on to win 81-74.

Toledo will return to the hardwood on Friday when they travel to Northern Illinois for a rematch of their Jan. 12 meeting where the Huskies won 71-66. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. The game can been viewed on CBS Sports Network.