 "Photo: Nate Croak / IC")
The Rockets lost a school record 17th-consecutive game last night to Eastern Michigan 58-42. The losing streak also ties Fordham for the longest in the nation.
When the Rockets lost 74-59 on the road against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 13, freshman guard Malcolm Griffin guaranteed a win. After last night’s loss, Griffin said he regretted the guarantee.
“They came out on a mission because of my statement,” Griffin said. “You have to give them credit. They came out playing hard and ready to prove a point as much as any team would have. It was a freshman mistake on my part.”
Toledo (3-24, 0-13 Mid-American Conference) scored a season-low 12 points in the first half as head coach Gene Cross fell to 10-48 overall in his two seasons.
“The game was in hand midway through the first half,” Cross said.
Sophomore center Ian Salter tied a career-high with 10 points and was the only Rocket to score in double figures.
“I just got into a rhythm and just started doing the things I know I can do,” Salter said. “You just have to have that fire and want to do the things that no one else is doing right at that moment, and we had the open shots. We just weren’t knocking them down. It’s just frustrating.”
Junior forward Justin Anyijong picked up two fouls just 3:20 into the contest and finished the game with nine points and six rebounds in 19 minutes of playing time. The Rockets leading scorer, freshman guard Jake Barnett, added seven points. His first field goal came with just 2:57 remaining in the game.
“Once Justin was in foul trouble, they took Jake away and we needed someone else to step up,” Cross said.
“We don’t have very many scoring options.”
The Rockets shot 17-of-50 (34 percent) from the field. EMU (14-12, 6-7 MAC) shot 10-of-25 (40 percent) in each half and had 18 assists with just six turnovers.
“You try to pull your guys to just settle down,” Cross said. “They had us rattled a little bit. Not just a little bit, we were rattled out there. While settling them down, you also try to bring some passion out in them. You look at them, and sometimes they look like they’re wide-eyed.”
The Eagles took advantage of the poor Toledo offense and jumped ahead 12-2 with 14:40 remaining in the first half. Eastern Michigan continued to pour it on and took a 17-point advantage following a three pointer from senior Brandon Bowdry with 1:57 left during a 6-0 run to end the half.
Bowdry had a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds with two steals. Classmate Carlos Medlock scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists.
The Rockets failed to score a basket in the final 3:15 and trailed 31-12 at the break.
“In that first half they kept bringing it to us and we missed a shot here or there and they were running on all cylinders and we weren’t, period,” Cross said. “But I think that it’s an opportunity to hammer them and hammer the point that you keep fighting, and no matter what you just keep getting out there and getting after it until you just run out of time.”
The Eagles continued to apply pressure in the second half and extended their run to 18-4 spanning over the first and second half.
Anyijong scored his first points of the night with a three-pointer to bring the score to 46-21 with 11:59 remaining. Eastern Michigan freshman Jamell Harris put away the Rockets with a fast break dunk at the 3:15 mark to make the score 56-31.
The Rockets padded the stats with 11 points in the final three minutes, including two triples by Anyijong in the last 48 seconds.
The Rockets return to action on Saturday, Feb. 20 in Cleveland, Ohio to take on Cleveland St. (13-14, 9-6 Horizon League) as part of the ESPNU Bracketbuster event at 6 p.m.
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