Julius Brown scored 25 points, making a career-high 11 free throws, and Toledo used big two big runs to defeat Samford 82-69 Wednesday for the Rockets' first win of the season.
Trailing 31-27 at halftime, Toledo (1-3) opened the second half with a 20-1 spurt in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Rockets couldn't hold their double-digit lead, as the Bulldogs (1-4) used a 16-6 run to close the deficit to 63-61 with 5:27 remaining.
Toledo answered by scoring 10 of the next 11 points, capped by a Reese Holliday 3-pointer with 3:52 left, and the Rockets maintained a cushion of at least nine the rest of the way.
Rian Pearson scored 17 points and Dominique Buckley had 15 and a career-high eight rebounds for Toledo, which shot 31 of 40 from the free-throw line.
Clide Geffrard Jr. scored 24 points off the bench for Samford, hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers.
