ROCKETS LOSE HEARTBREAKER

 Toledo, OH – Junior forward Julian Mavunga scored on a putback with two seconds remaining in the game to give the Miami Redhawks a 68-66 win over the Toledo Rockets at Savage Arena. Toledo, loser of its six previous conference games, seemingly had this game won, only to see the victory slip away in the final seconds.

Playing inspired basketball, UT had a seven point, 66-59, lead with 3:07 left in the contest following a layup by freshman Reese Holliday. Things still looked pretty good for Toledo’s chances when the clock went under a minute to play and they still had a two-point lead.

Even after a defensive mistake with 47 seconds remaining allowed the Redhawk’s Allen Roberts to knot the score at 66 with an unmolested drive to the basket, Toledo still had possession of the ball and a chance to retake the lead. But when Malcolm Griffin was stripped of the ball while trying to maneuver to the basket with 32 seconds left, things got a little dark.

Miami worked the clock down to seven seconds before Roberts threw up a jumper that missed the mark, and in the ensuing scrum under the basket, Mavunga came up with the ball to put in the game winner. Toledo’s Jay Shunnar threw up a desperation 3-pointer that would have beaten the final horn to win the game, but the shot bounced harmlessly off iron.

The game with Miami was the second part of a double header that featured the Rocket women in the opener, so a good crowd of 4,837 fans was on hand for the game with the Redhawks.

As is their custom this season the Rockets quickly fell behind, trailing by as many as nine points before making a game of it. Toledo kept chipping away at the Miami lead until a 3-pointer from senior Anthony Wright tied the score at 21 with 7:38 remaining in the half. Wright canned another triple with 41 seconds to play to bring UT back within a point, 30-29, and that score held up until the teams went to intermission.

Griffin had 11 points at the break to lead both teams in scoring,

Led by Justin Anyijong, who came off the bench to score 15 second-half points, including three big triples, Toledo hung with the Redhawks until Anyijong unleashed his final trey to give the Rockets their first lead of the half, 56-53. That lead would hold until the final minute of the game.

Miami had four players finish in double figures on the night: senior forward Nick Winbush had 16 points, including four 3-pointers; Roberts had 14 points; Mavunga had 13 points; and freshman guard Josh Sewell had 10 points.

For Toledo Griffin finished with 20 points to lead all scorers, Anyijong had 15, and Holliday checked out with 14. Holliday also had a game high nine rebounds. The Rockets also won a close rebound battle 26-25.

UT recorded 22 assists against just 12 turnovers, usually the sign of a winning team, but hurt themselves at the free throw line where they converted on just 9-of-18 attempts. Miami was 13-of-18 from the charity stripe. Griffin had seven of Toledo’s assist total.

Toledo (4-21, 1-10 MAC) now has a road game against the Ball State Cardinals on Feb. 15, before returning back to Savage Arena to participate in an ESPN bracket buster game against Eastern Illinois on Feb.19.