Central Michigan University
Toledo
Toledo Wins With Buzzer-Beating Putback, 66-64
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT - Freshman Ridley Johnson put back a Justin Ingram miss just before the final buzzer sounded as the visiting Toledo Rockets handed Central Michigan University a 66-64 defeat on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.
Toledo held a 13-point lead, 64-51, when Keonta Howell made a layup with 5:44 left. But, the Chippewas made seven straight defensive stops and went on a 13-0 run to tie the game on an Eddie Spencer layup with 33 ticks left.
The Rockets advanced the ball to halfcourt and called a timeout. UT also used a pair of 30-second timeouts before inbounding the ball to Ingram who ran the clock down. He tried a runner from the elbow with about three seconds left that rimmed in and out but Johnson made an acrobatic putback from the right side that beat the horn and gave UT its seventh straight league victory.
Toledo improved to 17-10, 10-8 in the MAC. The Rockets earned the No. 7 seed in next week's MAC Tournament and they will host rival Bowling Green on Monday night. The Chippewas finished the regular season 4-23 overall, 1-17 in the MAC. CMU is the No. 12 seed in the tournament and will head to defending tournament champion Ohio on Monday.
CMU played without its leading scorer and rebounder, Sefton Barrett, who was nursing an injury.
In his absence, CMU was outrebounded 36-33, as the Rockets pulled down 20 on the offensive end. The Chippewas coughed up the ball 24 times to UT's 12, but CMU's 53 percent shooting kept it in the game.
Giordan Watson led the home squad with 17 points and five assists while Eddie Spencer added 12 points and a team-high seven boards. Freshman Jon Yeazel got his first career start in place of Barrett and the rookie added 10 points, five rebounds and several hustle plays.
Three Rockets were in double figures with Florentino Valencia pouring in a team-high 16 off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting. Keonta Howell nearly recorded a double-double with 14 points and nine boards and Ingram added 11.
CMU held a 35-30 lead at the half but Toledo went on a 17-9 run to start the second.
