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Rockets fall short despite Brown's 29 |
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Friday, December 23 2011 |
 FLORIDA GOLF COAST 83, TOLEDO 80
Brown poured in a season-high 29 points and dished out seven assists to lead UT. He converted 10-of-15 field-goal attempts, including seven treys for the most by a Rocket since Nick Moore buried seven vs. NIU on Jan. 8, 2003.
Sophomore G Rian Pearson was another key contributor for Toledo with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
“Juice and Rian were the only two guys who truly competed for us from start to finish tonight,” Toledo Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “Those two guys really brought a lot of energy and excitement and did a lot of the little things that can help a team win.”
Also scoring in double figures were junior G Dominique Buckley (16 pts.) and junior G Curtis Dennis (12 pts.).
Florida Gulf Coast featured a balanced attack with senior G Christophe Varidel, freshman G Dante Holmes and freshman G Bernard Thompson each scoring 16 points.
The Eagles shot 50.8 percent from the field and limited UT to a 45.2 percent. The Rockets knocked down a season-high 11 treys but were hampered by 13 first-half turnovers.
“They were casual turnovers (in the first half), which are simple to correct,” Kowalczyk said. “You can’t turn the ball over like we did against a team that shoots and scores as well as Florida Gulf Coast. We got beat in a shootout tonight.”
Those miscues played a key role in Toledo trailing by a 46-35 margin at halftime, but that turned around following intermission.
“Our effort in the second half was tremendous,” Kowalczyk said. “We battled and clawed and did everything that we didn’t do in the first half. I thought we out-toughed them in the second half, but it was too little too late.
UT tied the score at 60-60 on a Dennis jumper midway through the second stanza. Brown then put the Rockets up, 64-62, at the 9:16 mark with his final three-point bomb, but Varidel answered with a four-point play on the Eagles’ next possession.
The contest remained tight the rest of the way with Buckley’s trey giving UT its last lead, 77-76, with 2:27 remaining. Dennis’ layup with 1:21 tied the score at 80-80, but that was the Rockets’ final points of the game.
After Holmes hit a pair of free throws to give FGCU an 82-80 lead with 1:02 left, Brown nearly gave the Rockets a one-point lead. His three-point attempt with 39 ticks rimmed out.
UT had three opportunities to tie the score in the closing seconds but couldn’t get its shots to fall.
The Rockets will now take a short holiday break before returning to action against Cleveland State on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Tip-off time is 8:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Toledo Athletics
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