CLEVELAND – The Mid American Conference tournament is held annually with the top 8 seeded teams in the conference qualifying to compete. This year, the Toledo Rockets finished their regular season with a record of 17-14 (9-8 MAC). This middle-of-the-line record earned them a 4 seed for this year’s tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. They faced the 5-seeded Bowling Green for a third Battle of I-75.
The Rockets faced Bowling Green on Thursday, March 12. Toledo, who was led in points by the freshman guard Leroy Blyden, narrowly escaped this game alive with a final score of 77-76. Bowling Green struggled to hold off Toledo’s guard play, as the backcourt composed of Blyden and Sonny Wilson combined for 35 points, five assists and four steals.
With this high scoring offense doing its job, Toledo rushed off to a 12-point lead, the largest of the night. Basketball is a game of runs, where one team can catch momentum and high energy scoring streaks, but with one play, that momentum can easily shift.
Bowling Green fired back before the half with a run of their own, taking the lead 38-37 at the break. The Toledo Rockets are high-powered with a consistent offense, averaging around 80 points per game.
BGSU and UT shot very similar percentages overall, averaging 50 percent on shots for the night, but what pushed Toledo out in front was also shooting a high 50 percent from three, while BGSU only shot 29 percent.
Despite the three-point shooting disparity, this game came down to three shots in the last few moments: two large free throws made by Wilson, which put the Rockets up one with under 10 seconds to play, and a missed layup from Bowling Green to seal their own fate as they were eliminated from the tournament.
Top Performers from Toledo were:
Blyden (23-6-2), Wilson (12-7-3), and three other players who finished with 10 points: Sean Craig, Austin Parks, and Mynor Strong (stats are in Points – Rebound – Assist order).
With the rivalry win over BGSU, the Rockets went head-to-head against the Minutemen of Umass, who had just upset the number 1 seed – Miami, Ohio – the day prior. The Rockets came out of the gates strong, playing efficient offense and suffocating defense, going into the break up 43-34. With one half left to go to secure a championship berth, Toledo kept it rolling, but Umass didn’t give up the lead easily.
Even with the Minutemen’s valiant effort, the Rockets held them as UMass shot 41.3 percent from the field and 19 percent from behind the arc. On the other end, Toledo shot 57.4 percent from the field, and 35 percent from the three.
These numbers took Toledo near their average offensive stats, pushing them past UMass for a 10-point victory with a final score of 77-67. Top performers from this game included: Wilson (18-2-4), Strong (17-5), Craig (15-11-2) and Blyden (12-4-7).
Two wins into the tournament, Toledo was 40 minutes away from their first MAC Championship since 1980. They went up against the No. 2 Akron Zips, who had won the last two MAC Championships.
Toledo came out with energy, physicality, and precision. They ran the floor, grabbed rebounds against a physically larger Akron team, and hit big shots to give themselves a comfortable lead early in the first half.
Toledo took an early double-digit lead, forcing Akron into an uncomfortable spot. Despite best efforts from Akron to stop Toledo’s momentum, the Rockets head into the break up 12 points. Toledo could taste the win.
Early in the second half, Akron started heating up, getting stops, and getting to the basket with ease. The Zips closed the gap and forced Toledo to take a timeout and talk the situation over. Despite many attempts to cool down Akron, the Zips remained on fire. Toledo was still in it to win, but they were feeling the pressure.
While Akron had outscored Toledo by double digits, bringing the game back to one possession, Toledo was still battling, and, with a few seconds remaining, the score was 76-76; the Rockets need one stop.
Akron guard Shammah Scott found his spot: the left wing. With a few quick dribbles, Scott took a step back to 25 feet, threading a three-pointer straight through Toledo’s heart. The Rockets had under five seconds to tie this game back up.
Blyden took the inbound and dribbled all the way to his own left wing where he lost control of the ball. Toledo’s center Austin Parks – on a prayer – shot the ball only to have it bounce off the back rim and out.
Akron made history with their win, as they are the first team to win three MAC Championships in a row, and Toledo will undoubtedly come back next season looking for their second title since the tournament’s founding.
Top performers of the Championship: Blyden (23-6-5), Parks (13-7-2), and Kyler Vanderjagt (13).
