ToledoBuzz Staff 
TOLEDO, Ohio – Senior Setric Millner Jr. and junior RayJ Dennis each scored a team-high 21 points to lift the Toledo men’s basketball team to a season-high fifth straight victory on Saturday afternoon with a 91-77 win over arch-rival Bowling Green.
A season-high 6,922 fans in Savage Arena saw the Rockets improve their record to 15-6 overall and 6-2 in Mid-American Conference play, win for the ninth time in 10 home games, and keep pace in the MAC standings with first-place Kent State (17-4, 7-1 MAC) and Akron (15-6, 7-1 MAC).
“I’m proud of our guys. I thought we played with focus and intensity and guarded the three-point line well,” Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said after UT held the Falcons to just 5-of-19 shooting from behind the arc. “Bowling Green was leading the MAC in shooting in league play and had two players shooting over 50 percent from three.”
Sophomore EJ Farmer came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points and grab five rebounds. He was joined in double figures by senior JT Shumate (14 pts., career-high six assists) and sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. (11 pts.).
“EJ was huge for us today after Ra’Heim Moss got in foul trouble,” Kowalczyk said. “He played really well to help us get a lead late in the first half.”
Senior Leon Ayers paced the Falcons offensively with 21 points and six assists.
Toledo shot over 50 percent from the field for the 10th time this season, finishing with at 53.0%. The Rockets were efficient in each half, converting 51.5% in the opening 20 minutes and 54.5% in the final stanza.
UT also registered 17 assists and just five turnovers, the second straight contest it has committed five or fewer miscues. The Rockets entered today’s game ranked 16th nationally with 10.6 turnovers per game.
Millner’s triple with four minutes left in the first half capped off an 8-2 run which give Toledo a 33-27 advantage and a lead it didn’t relinquish. The Rockets expanded their cushion to 41-31 at halftime and led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 31 with a trip to Oxford, Ohio to face Miami (7-14, 1-7 MAC). Tip-off time in Millett Hall is 7:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Bowling Green led by as many as six points early before the Rockets took their first lead, 17-15 on Ra’Heim Moss’ basket with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
- EJ Farmer scored six straight points, including a steal and breakaway dunk, to keep the score tied at 23-23 at the 8:03 mark.
- Setric Millner Jr.’s triple capped off an 8-2 burst to give Toledo the lead for good, 33-27, with 4:01 left to play in the half.
- RayJ Dennis closed out the half with a layup for a 41-31 halftime lead
- Millner Jr. topped the Rockets with 12 first-half points.
SECOND HALF
- Toledo opened the second half with a 13-5 run to take a 54-36 advantage. Dante Maddox Jr. keyed the spurt with six points.
- RayJ Dennis’ dunk pushed the Rockets’ lead to 21 points, 59-38, with 14:49 remaining.
- A 13-3 Falcon spurt reduced Toledo’s lead to 73-64 with 8:06 to play, but BGSU could get no closer than eight points down the stretch.
- Maddox Jr. drilled a three-pointer and Millner Jr.’s three-point play increased the Rockets’ lead by to 17, 87-70, with three minutes left.
- Dennis led Toledo in the second half with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
