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Toledo basketball update: Rockets playing well

The last update saw the Rockets at 4-7 with little momentum heading into conference play.

Two weeks later and the tide has changed…for the better.

Toledo has won four of its past five including all four conference games (three of which on the road) and currently sit comfortably on top of the West Division at 8-8 overall and 4-0 in the conference.

And with the next four games against teams with a combined 31-37 mark, they could be at 7-1 or even 8-0 come the end of January.

The Midnight Blue & Gold hosts a terrible Northern Illinois squad on Saturday followed by an away contest at Buffalo, back home against an always dangerous Charlie Coles Redhawk team, then finishing the month with a date in Athens against East powerhouse Ohio.

Rocket fans should settle for no less than a 3-1 mark in these remaining games in January. Even a road victory against the Bobcats is not out of the question.

It all comes down to execution.

Keying the Rockets start in conference play has been a balanced scoring attack led by seniors Justin Ingram, Keonta Howell, Florentino Valencia, and junior Kashif Payne. Howell leads the Rockets and ranks third in the MAC in overall scoring at 17.0 points per game, while Ingram is fourth in the MAC with 16.1 average. Valencia leads the conference and ranks sixth nationally with his 65.6 field-goal percentage. He also ranks 11th in rebounds per game (5.9) and 17th in points per game (12.8). The Rockets have now won 11 straight MAC regular-season games with its last conference loss coming on Feb. 1, 2006 to Western Michigan.

Besides balanced scoring, Toledo has relied on strong defense, key rebounding, and timely forced turnovers during their recent winning streak. Although they have not been lights out on either end of the court, the Rockets have been able to hold leads late in ball games, something they failed to do early on in the season.

Poor Free Throw Shooting Hurting Toledo

On the season, the Rockets have hit only 68% of their free throws this season good for seventh in the conference. I think it is fair to state that Stan Joplin would like to see this number improve into the seventies. Critical free throw shooting down the stretch may be a factor for the rest of the season.

Rockets Steppin’ Up

Juniors Kashif Payne and Jerrah Young have seemingly recovered from early season funks to becoming reliable threats on both ends for Toledo. Payne, always known for his assists and steals, has been shooting well as of late and is averaging 10.3 ppg during the past four games. Young, on the other hand, has seen his minutes increased, giving Tino Valencia valuable rest time. The 6-7 junior’s confidence has allowed him to avoid fouls, one of his major weaknesses. "When Jerrah plays well, we're a far better team," Joplin said. "And he has really been working hard and playing hard in practices and in games. He deserves the minutes he's been getting."

A Tribute for Haris Ends Perfectly

A tribute to the late Haris Charalambous occurred on January 13 before the Western Michigan contest at Savage Hall. UT officials unfurled a banner high above the team benches honoring the Toledo junior who died in October after collapsing
during a preseason conditioning drill. Even better was the 7,803 fans, the largest home crowd in almost six years. It was just a great night to be a Rocket fan and the players were surely moved by the atmosphere. Justin Ingram commented on the memory of Haris: "It affected us a lot. We knew there was going to be a memorial but we didn't know about the banner coming down. That was the first time we had seen it just like everyone else. Once we saw that we just wanted to come out and play the best that we could for Haris. We have been trying to do that the whole season, and we are going to continue to play as well as we can for him."

MAC basketball by VanDelay Sports