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Roderick Middleton

BUFFALO, NY ­ Buffalo fought hard and battled Toledo down to the wire, but a late surge by the Rockets lifted them past the Bulls, 66-59, at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night.

UB jumped out to an early 12-4 lead and held a 16-10 advantage with 9:30 left in the half. Toledo responded with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Seemingly undaunted, the Bulls regained a 28-21 lead with 3:28 remaining in the half. The Rockets closed out the half on a 9-0 run capped by a Kareem Milson three-ball at the buzzer to take a 30-28 halftime lead.

Toledo held the lead for much of the second half, but the Bulls were able to match the Rockets, bucket-for-bucket, to stay within earshot. Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) drained a three-pointer, with 7:03 left, to give the Bulls a 54-52 lead. Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) followed with a three of his own to give UB a three-point lead with 5:47 left. However, it would be the last field goal the Bulls would scored as Toledo finished the game on a 12-2 run to earn the victory.

Buffalo (4-20, 1-14) got a strong performance from Middleton. The freshman guard scored a team-high 17 points, his most points since he dropped 18 at Central Michigan on Jan. 18. B.J. Walker (Cincinnati, OH/Mount Healthy) added nine points and eight rebounds. Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) chipped in with eight points off the bench.

The shooting totals were very similar as both teams scored 21 field goals and Toledo only made one more three-pointer. However, the Achilles' heel of the Bulls on this night was their free throw shooting. Buffalo shot only 11-25 (44.0) from the charity stripe.

"The number one thing that we needed to do a much better job on was our free throw shooting," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "That was a huge component in the game."

Toledo (11-14, 5-10) was led by Keith Triplett who scored a game-high 28 points, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He also made good on 10-of-13 free throws. Nick Moore added 14 points for the Rockets.