Miami, Florida – West Georgia finished the CBE/O’Reilly Auto Parts Classic with a 77-62 loss to the Toledo Rockets of the Mid-American Conference.
West Georgia held the lead for the opening three minutes off of
Ish John's three-pointer to take a 3-0 lead and
Jeremy Smith’s lay-up maintained that lead at 5-2, but the Rockets shot off with a 10-2 run over three minutes, sparked by Anthony Byrd’s three just under 17:00 minutes remaining in the first half.
Toledo (1-4) collected their first win of the season behind a balanced attack with five players reaching double digits in scoring and winning the battle on the boards 46-27.
The Rockets pushed the lead to as much as 12, following a 10-0 midway through the half, and following UWG’s
John Pringle’s jumper at the buzzer, UT enjoyed a 40-30 advantage heading into the locker room.
West Georgia came out of the half cutting the lead back into single digits to eight several times the last being at 44-36 with 16:10 left to play, but UT’s Byrd drained back-to-back three’s to push the Rocket lead back to double digits at 14 and a score of 50-36.
Toledo cleaned up any Wolf miss, totaling 28 defensive rebounds, and maintained a comfortable lead, reaching 18 with 44 seconds left and securing the 77-62 win.
Despite being overwhelmed on the glass, the Wolves did have three players reach double digits
Doug Daniels’ 14 with three blocked shots, John's 11, and
Chris Colvin’s 10. Pringle had nine points, three blocks and led all players with 11 rebounds.
West Georgia (2-4) will enjoy Thanksgiving and then it will be back to business as Gulf South Conference West foe and reigning GSC Champion, Christian Brothers, comes to town on Saturday, November 29 at 1:00 pm.