Rocket Men Lose Heartbreaker

The men’s basketball team lost a nail biter game (74-72) to Northern Illinois University at University of Toledo’s Savage Arena on Jan. 28. The loss came just a couple of days after UT defeated the Ohio Bobcats, one of the top teams in the conference.

Second-year guard Jaelen Sanford stood out among the Rockets, recording a game-high 29 points. Fourth-year guard Jonathan Williams added 21 and fellow fourth-year Steve Taylor Jr. had seven points, nine assists and 17 rebounds.

The Huskies had five players scoring double figures, led by fourth-year forward Marin Maric who tallied 15 points. Fourth-year guard Aric Armstead added eleven points, including some big buckets at the end of the game.

UT was outscored once again, and it resulted in ten second-chance points, as the Rockets missed the presence of fourth-year forward Zach Garber, who is currently injured.

“We emphasized guard rebounding,” said head Coach Tom Kowalczyk. “We can’t just rely on Steve Taylor to get the glass.”

Toledo controlled the lead for most of the first half despite committing four turnovers in the first three minutes. They took the initial lead, due to early three pointers by Sanford and Williams.

After the first media timeout, Williams added another layup that sparked a UT run that lasted nearly four minutes. UT then took a 22-11 lead.

“I think some of us weren’t 100%, but it’s just effort,” said Jaelen Sanford. “We’re going to come back and we’re going to be better.”

But the Huskies quickly stormed with a couple layups to shrink the lead to 24-18. The Rockets were shooting 79% from the field, but turnovers killed them in the first half.

Bad shot selection and poor ball security allowed NIU to put together a run to take their first lead since the opening minutes. They took a 35-34 lead with 2:25 remaining in the first half, thanks to a three ball by second-year guard Laytwan Porter.

A nice pass from Taylor Jr. to fourth-year forward Jordan Lauf resulted in a layup at the buzzer, and the Rockets trailed 40-37.

The second half was the complete opposite of the first half, with the Huskies controlling the lead. The Rockets were getting good looks at the basket, but once again struggled with giving the ball away.

After a few good possessions by UT, including layups from Sanford and Williams, a couple of stops on the defense made the Rockets catch up within five points. A big three by Sanford put the Rockets down four 56-52 with about nine minutes remaining in the game.

The Huskies seemed to always have an answer when Toledo pulled close. Maric converted an and-one that put NIU back up by nine with seven minutes left.

The Rockets felt a sense of urgency with four minutes remaining as second-year forward Nate Navigato got a steal, and converted the layup to cut the lead to just five.

“We knew we had to be more aggressive,” Sanford said. “Things were going our way and we had momentum.”

Like most of the second half, NIU had an answer as Armstead knocked down two big buckets to put the lead back at nine with just over two minutes left.

However, Sanford helped UT have a chance at the end, with an assist to Navigato for three and a layup of his own to put Toledo down by just one with 41 ticks left on the clock.

But UT couldn’t get a stop when they needed it, as they gave up three on the next possession and trailed 73-69. Sanford wasn’t done yet, as he came down and immediately knocked down a big three pointer with 19 seconds left.