2016-17 MAC Men’s Basketball Recap: Toledo Rockets vs. Evansville Purple Aces

We had an impressive mid major performance by Jaylen Brown scoring 39 points in a losing effort to the Toledo Rockets 83-79. Brown a senior on the Purple Aces of Evansville is a name to keep an eye on averaging 21 points a game through four game while shooting almost 60%. He gave it all he had on Friday afternoon 14-28 from the field, two of three from three to go along with 11 rebounds and four steals. It was an all star performance in a back and forth game.

The Rockets now 3-2 used three key players to edge out the Purple Aces. A back and forth overtime period gave the Rockets a nice early test for many of their young players and their experience forward. They used a combination of their youth movement and senior Steve Taylor Jr. Taylor Jr. had 15 points mixing it up between the paint and behind the arc to go along with 15 rebounds. It was a common theme for the Rockets as each one of their starters made at least one three pointer.

Jaelan Sanford and Luke Knape impressed me the most as the sophomore and freshman as they scored 34 points combined against a good mid-major team. The future looks bright for Toledo with these two providing 2/5 of the starting lineup for the next few years.

It was a great neutral court win for the Rockets in their non-conference portion of their schedule. After a heartbreaker loss to St. Joes to begin the season it was nice to see a close game go the Rockets way. They have a rematch tomorrow against Middle Tennessee State after losing by 10 on Tuesday.

Evansville plays against the 3-1 UNCW Wilmington Seahawks before wrapping up the tournament with Middle Tennessee State on Sunday. Brown will continue to be a story to watch especially with in the mid-majors as he has great balance between points in the paint and also behind the arc.