Junior guard Dominique Buckley, who scored a team-high 21 points, spear-headed a second-half surge when he tallied 10 consecutive points for the home team, giving Toledo the lead in the contest for the first time since early in the first period. And when the Rockets grabbed that lead with four minutes remaining, they just weren't going to let it slip away.

Wilmington, a very young team, sent three freshmen, one sophomore and one junior out for the opening tip in Wednesday's encounter on Nichols Court, but that quintet would prove to be a worthy opponent for an almost equally young Toledo squad, especially a freshman guard named Adam Smith who torched the UT defenders for 27 points.

Smith, a Second-Team Parade All-American coming out of high school in Georgia, lit up the scoreboard for 17 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. There were moments in the first 20 minutes when it appeared as if Smith was attempting to best the Rockets as a solo act. “Adam Smith is one tough guard,” commented Toledo mentor Tod Kowalczyk. “He's a tough cover, he creates his own shots but they (Wilmington) also run good things for him. Early on we did a bad job of trying to get him out of his rhythm and he was extremely hard to guard.”

But Toledo also has an exceptional freshman in Julius “Juice” Brown, and the Chicago native helped keep Toledo close to Wilmington in the first period with 11 points and four assists.

After UNC-W opened up its 10-point, 29-19, lead, sophomore Reese Holliday connected on a three-pointer and Brown quickly followed with a pair of triples to cut the margin to 29-27 and give UT some momentum.

Sophomore Rian Pearson knotted the score at 32 with a put back of a missed Toledo trey. The score was again tied at 35 after Smith and Brown exchanged treys with the clock winding down to two minutes. Toledo, however, could not get over the hump, and Wilmington took a 41-37 lead into the break. “Wilmington was hard to guard in the first half and took us out of a lot of things. They kind of broke our spirit by making some tough shots,” remarked Kowalczyk.

The second half was pretty much a wash with both teams trading baskets until Buckley began his personal 10-point run to give Toledo the lead. A layup from Pearson, two drives by Brown, and a pair of Buckley free throws, had Toledo ahead 75-68 with just 1:47 to play. Wilmington would score the final five points of the contest but a triple attempt by Smith as time ran out fell way short of the mark, giving Toledo a five game winning streak, something not seen for five long years.

“The great thing about tonight is we're disappointed in a win, and that hasn't happened much around here lately,” said Kowalczyk half jokingly. I was disappointed with our energy and enthusiasm. But I'll give our guys credit. They never panicked, they were never negative, and when they had to make plays they did. That's the sign of a good team.”

The phrase “hang tough” is defined as: Able to withstand great strain without tearing or breaking; strong and resilient. And against a scrappy UNC-W team that is much better than their 0-5 record, Toledo hung tough to get the win.

Buckley led Toledo in scoring with 21 points, 18 of his total coming in the second half. He also dished out seven assists and recorded three steals. But the victory was a team effort as all five starters made significant contributions.

Pearson finished with 18 points and tied for rebounding honors with nine grabs; Brown had 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals; Matt Smith has 12 points; and Holliday just missed joining the double-digit club with nine points. No other Rocket scored in the game.

For most of the contest Wilmington threw a zone press against Toledo but the pressure never did bother the home team as they committed just 13 miscues on the night.

UT shot a respectable 48.2% , slightly better than the Seahawks 44.1%.

Adam Smith led three Seahawks in double figures with his 27 points, converting on 11-of-20 attempts from the floor.

An announced crowd of 3,785, mostly subdued, fans was on hand to view Wednesday's very entertaining win.

Toledo now takes its show on the road for one game, a Saturday afternoon affair in the Windy City against Chicago State, before returning to Savage Arena to face off against national power Temple on December 7.