Toledo Holds on for 103-98 (OT) Win over YSU in Home Opener

Tuesday, November 15

Toledo, OH

8:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

1-1

103

Youngstown State

1-1

OT 1

Youngstown State

TOLEDO

103

Senior Steve Taylor Jr. tallied a career-high 22 points and 23 rebounds in Toledo's 103-98 (OT) win over Youngstown State.

Photo by: Toledo Athletics

Toledo Holds on for 103-98 (OT) Win over YSU in Home Opener

11/15/2016 11:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

TOLEDO, OH – Toledo regrouped from letting a 21-point second-half lead slip away to post a 103-98 (OT) victory over Youngstown State in its home opener on Tuesday evening.

Senior guard Jonathan Williams topped the Rockets' offensive attack with 25 points, while senior forward Steve Taylor Jr. tallied a career-high 22 points and 23 rebounds in his first game in Savage Arena. Taylor's 23 boards are tied for seventh-most in school history and broke the Savage Arena record of 22 held by Tim Schirra vs. East Carolina on Dec. 19, 1992.

Also scoring in double digits were junior guard Daniel Dzierzawski with 19 points and senior guard Jordan Lauf with a career-high 13 points.

Junior guard Cameron Morse propelled the Penguins with 40 points with 34 of those coming after halftime.

Toledo never trailed in regulation during the contest and YSU took its first lead on Devin Haygood's free throw 16 seconds into overtime. Morse's three-point play put the Penguins up 94-91 two minutes later but two free throws each from Williams and Dzierzawski gave the Midnight Blue and Gold a 95-94 advantage with just under two minutes to play. UT finally took the lead for good, 101-98, with 16 seconds left following Williams' two free throws and a Dzierzawski runner.

Toledo jumped on Youngstown State early, scoring the game's first 10 points in less than three minutes thanks to a dunk from senior center Zach Garber, a three-point play from Lauf, a trey from Williams and two more free throws from Lauf. The Rockets took their largest lead of the opening stanza when Taylor's layup put UT up 17 points, 32-15, 5:32 before intermission.

Williams' trey and Taylor's layup to open the second half gave Toledo its biggest lead of the contest, 48-27, just over a minute into the second half. The Rockets' cushion remained in double digits until YSU put together a 14-2 run to cut its deficit to 74-68 with 4:42 remaining.

UT still held an 85-78 advantage with 25 seconds left following a Williams' three-point play. The Penguins then buried three deep treys, including a pair from Morse, and took advantage of two UT misses at the free-throw line to send the game to overtime tied at 87-87.

Toledo returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 19 when it visits Dayton, OH to battle Wright State (2-0). Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.