by Cleveland OH; Our next match-up coming from the MAC Quarterfinals would be between the 4th seeded Toledo Rockets and the 5th seeded Ohio Bobcats.
Toledo finished the regular season with a 17-14 overall record, while Ohio finished at 16-15. The two teams matched up twice in the regular season, with the Rockets coming out on top in both.
Well, this one was not much different with Toledo winning for the 3rd time this season between the two teams, 90-85.
Ohio was led by junior guard Jackson Paveletzke who had 28 points on the afternoon, including 9 free throw’s. The Bobcats next leading scorer would be graduate guard Shereef Mitchell who put up 12 points with 5 rebounds as well.
While Toledo were led by their “big three” which consisted of sophomore guard Sam Lewis, sophomore guard Sonny Wilson, and 5th year guard Isaiah Adams. Lewis came away with 21 points, Wilson with 15, and Adams led the way with 26.
The game started off very evenly with both teams exchanging buckets. Toledo was finding their way with the three ball, while Ohio had it working down low in the paint. The Bobcats held a narrow 15-13 lead come the first media timeout of the half.
It would not stay even for long after junior guard Seth Hubbard would spark an 11-2 run for Toledo. The Rockets all of a sudden took a commanding 24-17 lead in just two minutes. Hubbard had 4 of his 6 points on that run alone.
It was then the Bobcats turn to go on a little 6-2 run. Ohio would trail just 25-29 with 7:18 left in the first half. Up to this point, both teams were showing off how deep their benches are.
Toledo started to dominate the boards as the first half winded down, but that did not keep Ohio out of the paint offensively. With just over 3 minutes left in the first half and a 37-32 lead by Toledo, it was in fact shaping out to be one of the best games on the day in the MAC Quarterfinals.
Both teams fell flat offensively to end the half. Giving Toledo a 39-35 lead as halftime rolled around. Ohio was shooting 47% with 18 rebounds, 11 bench points, and 20 points in the paint. While Toledo was shooting 40% with 20 rebounds, 12 bench points, and 16 points in the paint. This game was that even.
It stayed just as even to start the second half as well with both teams responding back and fourth to what each other had to offer. But the Bobcats were finally making their way back into it thanks to a 14-8 run that lasted over 6 minutes.
With just 11:53 left in the game, Ohio found themselves a 50-49 lead and were already in the bonus for the second half.
The scoring would take off the next 4 minutes, with a total combined 21 points between both sides. At the under-8 media timeout of the second half, Toledo held onto a narrow 61-59 lead.
Basketball is all about a game of runs, and this game was a perfect example of that. A quick 8-2 run by Ohio would give them their biggest lead of the game so far at 67-63. But held onto a 2 point lead with 5:42 left after Toledo’s first timeout of the game.
The Bobcats defense woke up big time in the second half. Only allowing Toledo to shoot 35%, Ohio also held them to just one point across nearly 3 minutes of game-time.
At the final media timeout of the game, Ohio held a 71-66 lead over Toledo, their biggest of the game.
But that would not last long whatsoever after a quick 4-0 run by Toledo, putting them down just 70-71. Adams was carrying the Rockets defense down the stretch, coming up with a total of 3 key blocks.
Tied up at 75 a piece, it would be Ohio’s Paveletzke getting fouled on a layup with just 4.7 seconds left to play. He would knock down one of the free throws, and a defensive stop was all that was needed to help secure the win for the Bobcats.
But with one second left, a shooting foul would be called on Ohio sending Toledo to the free throw line where they would only make one of their own as well.
With 0.7 seconds left after the free throws, Ohio had one minimal chance to avoid overtime. But it would not be the case as both teams would end regulation with a tied score of 76-76.
Overtime was much like the rest of the game, very even and back and fourth. Only until the last minute or so when the Rockets were able to pull away big thank to Lewis’ play down the stretch.
With Toledo having a 88-85 lead and 19 seconds left, Ohio had a chance to tie the game, but failed to do so. The summary of overtime is that Toledo made their shots when needed, and Ohio simply did not.
The 90-85 win for Toledo advances them to Friday night at 5 pm where they will take on the one seeded Akron Zips.
