ROCKET MEN WIN THRILLER OVER KENT STATE

 Tyrone Kent slammed home a breakaway dunk and hit a free throw with just one second remaining in the contest to give Toledo an exciting 59-56 come-from-behind win over the Kent State Flashes in the opening game of a Saturday double-header at Savage Hall.

With UT trailing the Flashes, 56-51, the table was set for Kent’s eleventh-hour heroics by Kent himself. With the clock winding down to the one-minute mark, the junior from Chicago was fouled by KSU's Al Fisher as he was attempting a 3-point shot. He canned all three of his free throw attempts to bring the Rockets back within two points.

On the visitor’s possession, Toledo’s version of the Energizer Rabbit, Jonathon Amos, then stole the ball from Fisher with 37 seconds remaining, to send UT back on offense. Kent  missed a layup that might have spelled the end for the Midnight Blue and Gold’s hopes, but Ridley Johnson, the third member of Stan Joplin’s talented junior troika, tipped the ball back into the basket for a tie game with 26 seconds to play.

After a 30-second timeout by Kent State to set up a final shot, Fisher, who was really not having a good afternoon by this time, got himself caught up in traffic while trying to move the ball and was stripped of the rock a second time by Amos who then fired the crucial pass to Kent, now streaking down the floor to the bucket.

Kent was fouled on his jam and made the free throw to put the Rockets in front 59-56.

The Flashes tried to throw a desperation pass down court with that final second on the clock but Amos was there to grab the ball as time ran out.

A vocal crowd of 4,553 fans was on hand to see the tip-off between UT and Kent State, the MAC East Division at 6-1 coming into the game and they were treated to a spirited, and, at times, ragged contest. The game was also telecast on the Fox Sports Network.

Junior Anthony Byrd led Toledo with eight points in the first half that saw Toledo shooting 60% from the floor.

UT was able to break out to a 19-11 lead at the mid-point of the half but Kent State hung right there and took a brief one-point lead when Fisher scored on a layup with one-minute to play before intermission. Just a few seconds later, Fisher fouled Kent who made both shots from the charity stripe to put UT back on top 29-28, and end the scoring for the period.

The second half was a see-saw affair with multiple bodies flying to loose balls all over the court. Toledo had the lead for most of the first 10 minutes, only to fall behind for a spell, before freshman Corey Bingham drained a trey to put the Rockets back on top, 46-44. The lead changed hands three more times before the events of the final minute put the game into the win column for UT.

Kent led the way for the Rockets with 19 points. He was just 4-of-13 from the floor but 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Jerrah Young had 10 points before fouling out of the game with 1:28 to play.

Byrd, who did not score in the second half, and Johnson each finished with eight points.

Amos had six points but was also credited with a career-high seven steals, a feat accomplished by just three former Rockets.

Fisher led the way for Kent State with 18 points, but he also had eight turnovers, two of them coming in the closing seconds to give life to the Rockets.

“This was a hard-fought game and I thought our guys did a very good job defensively,” Head Coach Stan Joplin commented after the game. “This is probably the closest we’ve come to playing 40 minutes of basketball this year. Usually we just go in spurts. We were concerned about Kent’s shooting and penetrating, and they had a number of second-chance points in the first half that hurt us. But our fans were fantastic today and they really helped us to get over the hump.”

“They (Kent State) usually get a lot of easy baskets and I thought we stopped them from doing that today. We made them work for their points and that was a big key for our win.”

Things don’t get easier for Toledo (7-13, 4-4 MAC) as they travel down to Oxford, OH this coming Wednesday to tangle with Charlie Cole’s Miami Redhawks, a difficult task in the best of times.