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The struggle started early.
Over the first few minutes of Saturday night's 76-64 loss to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (6-3), the Toledo Rockets couldn't get going and in a blink of an eye, they trailed 9-0
Despite giving up a 11-2 run to begin the game, the Rockets would fight back. In nearly no time it was anyone's game again, as Toledo rallied to cut Oakland's halftime advantage to just 5.
Oakland began the second half on a 4-0 spurt to take a 42-33 lead, the Golden Grizzlies' largest since they were up 11-2 in those early minutes.
However, Toledo would not go away. The Rockets responded with a 6-0 run, and kept Oakland off the scoreboard for nearly 5 minutes. Oakland erased the comeback with a quick 5 point burst to retake a eight point lead.
After that, the two sides traded buckets and the Golden Grizzlies took an 49-44 advantage into the 12 minute TV timeout. Afterwards, Oakland would retake control of the game, taking another nine point lead with a bit under 10 minutes left.
The Golden Grizzlies took total control of the game by expanding their lead up to 10 on a triple by Nick Daniels, and then to 13 on another three by Sherron Dorsey-Walker.
Oakland had 4 players finish in double figures, led by Kahlil Felder, who had 34 points on the night and Percy Gibson who chipped in 13. Toledo's leading scorer was Nathan Boothe with 18. Jonathan Williams also chipped in 14 for the Rockets.
Toledo would keep fighting, bringing the Oakland lead back down to 7 at one point, but another three by Oakland, this time by Max Hooper, gave the Grizzlies another 10-point advantage with 4:54 to play.
The teams would trade baskets for the final minutes of the contest, but Toledo never got closer than six points down and Oakland made their free throws late to close out the Rockets.
Next up, the Golden Grizzlies head out to the west coast to play Washington, while Toledo stays at home to take on Bethune-Cookman.