TOLEDO, OH - Freshman G Jake Barnett sent the game into overtime with a three-point field goal but Ohio was able to outscore Toledo by a 10-3 margin in the extra session to post a 65-58 (OT) triumph on Thursday evening in Savage Arena.

"Both teams came out sluggish tonight but it turned into a heckuva college basketball game at the end," Toledo Head Coach Gene Cross said. "I thought our young guys really grew up tonight in the last two minutes when things weren't going our way. I think it's something that this group can learn from and I applaud our guys for clawing and fighting back to send the game into overtime. We just didn't make the plays we needed to in overtime and Ohio won the ballgame."

Junior F Justin Anyijong tallied a game-high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds to lead the Rockets in scoring for a second-straight contest.  Barnett tallied 19 points for UT, while freshman F Jordan Dressler was also in double figures with a career-best 14 points. Freshman G Malcolm Griffin also paced Toledo in assists with a career-high eight helpers.

Junior G Tommy Freeman led the Bobcats (12-10, 3-5 MAC) with 17 points, while freshman F Reggie Keely (14 pts.-11 reb.) and freshman G D.J. Cooper (10 pts.-11 reb.) notched double-doubles.

The Rockets (3-20, 0-9 MAC) came back from a 51-46 deficit with 2:07 remaining in the contest thanks to an Anyijong trey, a Dressler layup and Barnett's previously-mentioned trey. Barnett's three-pointer was his second attempt in the final 15 seconds after Griffin grabbed the offensive rebound following his first miss.

Freeman scored the first points of overtime with a pair of free throws with 3:36 remaining. Keely then extended it to 60-55 with a free throw at the three-minute mark and a jumper in the lane with 2:33 to go. Cooper hit one of two free throws to give the Bobcats a six-point advantage, but Barnett made it a one-possession game with 55 seconds remaining with his second trey of the game. That was as close as the Rockets would get as Ohio hit four-of-six free throws to seal the victory.

Cross said that even though he is disappointed with the loss, there were some encouraging aspects to take from the game.

"Nobody likes losing but there were a lot of positives," Cross said. "I hate to see our guys hanging their heads, and I make sure to tell them to keep their heads up. I just want to keep getting better. Even though this game ended up in the loss column, I thought we did get better today and we learned something today. We made some big plays to come back at the end of regulation and we can use that as we move forward."

Toledo will be back in action when it hosts Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 6. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.