TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Rian Pearson scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Toledo over Miami (Ohio) 60-53 on Monday night in the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Pearson was 8 of 14 from the field and the Rockets (17-15) shot 42.3 percent in the first half (11 of 26) to lead 32-24 at intermission.
The RedHawks (9-21), who hadn’t led since 4 minutes left in the first half, pulled ahead 53-52 with 5:35 to go thanks to three consecutive 3-pointers. However, they then turned it over three times and missed all three of their 3-pointers the rest of the way.
Toledo went on an 8-0 run during that time.
Matt Smith added 12 points for the seventh-seeded Rockets. Toledo will face Central Michigan in the second round of the conference tournament on Wednesday night.
Tenth-seeded Miami (9-21) was led by Drew McGhee with 16 points and Julian Mavunga with 12.
