Findlay Comes up Short in Charity Exhibition vs Toledo
Postgame with Associate Head Coach Dan Shardo (88.3 WLFC - Tim Montgomery)
**Box score kept in-house and will not be made available to the public**
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's basketball team opened up the 2022-23 campaign on Sunday, Oct. 30 with an exhibition contest against the University of Toledo Rockets, a Division 1 opponent that plays in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Oilers got out to a fast start but it was the Rockets who executed down the stretch to hand the home team a 100-88 loss.
This is the fourth time since 2017 that Toledo and Findlay have clashed inside the friendly confines of Croy Gymnasium with proceeds benefiting a non-profit. Today, almost 900 fans attended the game to raise more than $3,000 for Mission Possible of Findlay.
At the first media timeout, the Orange and Black trailed 12-6 and, after the pending free throws were made, found themselves down eight just over four minutes into the contest.
Over the next four minutes, however, fans in Croy were treated to some hot shooting as the Oilers canned five triples as part of a 17-to-4 run that had Findlay leading 23-18 with 11:43 to play in the half.
A triple by senior Nathan Bruns with 7:23 to play in the first half gave the Oilers their largest lead of the game, a 43-27 advantage.
Toledo, who were picked second in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, then began to take control as they ended the half on a 19-9 run of their own to cut the halftime deficit to just six at 52-46.
In that first half, the Oilers made 61% (19-of-31) of their shots from the floor including a hitting 61% (11-of-18) from three-point range. However, 12 Findlay fouls aided the Rockets' scoring efforts as UT was able to capitalize at the charity stripe, converting on 19-of-20 from the line in the first half.
Toledo opened up the second half with a 13-6 run to pull within one point at the first media timeout of the second half, and by the second media timeout, had taken back the lead and then had a 75-68 advantage.
For the remainder of the game, the Rockets' lead would hover around ten points, reaching a game-high lead of 15 points with 33 seconds to play. A triple by freshman Khalil Luster made the score 100-88, the eventual final.
In the second half, Findlay was outscored 54-36 and shot 41% (14-of-34) from the field. After a red-hot start to the game from deep, the Oilers made just 3-of-13 from three-point range in the second half. On the flip side, Toledo found its' rhythm, making 21-of-34 (.618) shots from the floor and took advantage of a size advantage down low, scoring 34 points in the paint.
The Rockets forced Findlay into 14 turnovers in the game and scored 19 points off those miscues. In total, Toledo scored 46 points in the paint to just 30 for the Oilers. The big difference in the game was at the free-throw line where the visitors made 28-of-32 and Findlay managed just 8-of-15.
Senior Nathan Bruns led the way for Findlay as he scored 19 points on 7-of-12 from the floor including a pair of triples. He also grabbed three rebounds and had a steal.
Junior Andrew Owens scored 15 points on the strength of three triples in his first game action since the 2020-21 season. He had four rebounds and an assist.
Senior Joey Edmonds scored 14 points and led Findlay with four assists. Also picking up four assists for the Oilers was freshman Jagger Landers who scored 12 points on 5-of-10 from the floor including a pair of threes.
Freshman Khalil Luster and sophomore Josh Thorbahn each reached double digits, as well. Luster scored 11 points in the game including a stretch of eight straight points midway through the first half. He tied for the team-lead with three triples made in the game. Thorbahn scored ten points and grabbed three rebounds.
Senior Deven Stover scored seven points and was the team's leading rebounder with six.
For the Rockets, RayJ Dennis was the leading scorer with 26 points.
Findlay will open up regular season play on Nov. 11 when they travel to Cedarville, Ohio for the Midwest Region Crossover Challenge. The Oilers will play Quincy on Friday, the 11th and take on Truman St. on Saturday the 12th.
