TOLEDO, OH – Sophomore Justin Anyijong's tip-in at the buzzer lifted Toledo to a 57-56 victory in its first game at the ‘new’ John F. Savage Arena before 7,252 fans on Wednesday night. The win improved the Rockets to 2-5 in the 2008-09 campaign under first-year head coach Gene Cross, while UMass dropped to 1-5 under first-year head coach Derek Kellogg.

“You couldn’t have picked a better ending to win a game like this,” Cross said. “It so exciting for all of our fans and especially for our guys. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I walked into the locker room. That’s why you do this as a coach, to see the looks on their faces after the ball goes in and they experience a victory like that.”

Seniors Tyrone Kent and Jonathan Amos led UT offensively with 13 points apiece, while fellow senior Anthony Byrd tallied 11 points.  Anyijong and Kent tied for the team lead with seven rebounds apiece, while Kent dished out a season-high five assists and tied Amos for the team lead with three steals.

Senior Chris Lowe led the Minutemen with 15 points, four assists and four steals. Junior Ricky Harris scored 13 points, while senior Tony Gaffney added 11 points and nine boards. Gaffney knocked down two free throws with 16.4 seconds remaining after the visitors forced a Rocket turnover with a full-court press.

The Rockets shot a season-high 54.2 percent from the field and dished out a season-best 17 assists, while limiting UMass to 37.7 percent shooting.

The contest went back-and-forth the entire night with the lead changing hands on 10 occasions. Toledo led by as many as seven points early in the first half before the Minutemen regrouped and took a five-point advantage five minutes before intermission.

Toledo jumped out to a 12-5 lead early, capped by Kent’s trey with 14:44 left in the first. UMass regrouped though with a 12-2 run to take a 17-14 edge.

The Rockets tied the game at 29-29 on a long jumper by freshman Ian Salter with less than a minute left in the first half, but UMass was able to take a 32-31 halftime lead on Lowe's runner in the lane as time expired.

Kent's second three-pointer in the first 10 minutes of the second half gave Toledo 47-42 edge with 10:13 left in the game. He had given the Rockets a 42-41 advantage with 12:26 left in the second. That was the Rockets' first lead in nearly eight minutes.

Down by six, UMass went on a 7-0 run finished by a Lowe steal and lay-up forcing Toledo to call timeout as the Minutemen regained the lead, 50-49 with 8:31 left in the second. That came on the heels of a show by Kent, who heated up early in the second half as he scored 10 of Toledo's 12 points in a spurt finishing with a steal that led to a fastbreak thunder dunk with 9:50 left to give the Rockets a 49-43 lead.

UMass then went on a scoring drought of over six minutes late in the half that set the stage for what transpired in the final minutes after Amos had given UT a 55-54 lead with 3:24 remaining.

The Minutemen looked to retake the lead but Anthony Gurley was called for a charge with just over two minutes left in regulation. With 1:27 left Lowe was called for travelling and then missed a runner in the lane with 32 seconds left. Sophomore Mohamed Lo forced a jump ball by tying up UMass’ Tyrell Lynch on the ensuing rebound and the possession arrow pointed the Rockets’ way with 29 seconds left.

Toledo will now head back out on the road to Oakland (Dec. 7) and Wright State (Dec. 9) before returning home to host Houston on Saturday, Dec. 20.