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DETROIT (11/23/13) – Julius Brown made a jumper with 4.8 seconds remaining to help lift Toledo past the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team, 80-78, on Saturday at Calihan Hall as part of the 2K Sports Classic benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project. The Titans led by as much as 19 in the second half, before the Rockets battled back to tie the score 77-77 with 37 seconds left.

Junior forward Juwan Howard Jr., who scored a game-high 23 points, made one of two free throws with 16 second left to put the Titans up 78-77, before Brown made a basket and a free throw – after being fouled in the act of shooting – to give Toledo its first lead since 4-2 in the first half. The Titans had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Howard's three-pointer from the corner was no good after hitting the front of the rim.

Howard finished with 23 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guards Anton Wilson and Carlton Brundidge poured in 16 and 10 points, respectively. Both freshman guards Matthew Grant and Jarod Williams had nine points, while Ugochukwu Njoku finished with five points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots and two assists. 

Toledo (5-0) opened the game with an early 4-2 run, before the Titans responded with 14-4 run, including four-straight three-pointers from Brundidge, Howard, Wilson and Grant, to build a 16-8 lead with 12:36 left. The Rockets then responded with back-to-back buckets for Matt Smith to trim the lead to 16-12, but that was as close as the score would get in the first half as Detroit closed it with a 30-22 run to take a 46-34 lead into the locker room. Wilson led Detroit in the first half with 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 4-of-4 from downtown, while both Grant and Howard had seven points.

Detroit picked up right where it left off in the first half with a 14-7 run to start the second stanza to build its largest lead of the game 60-41 with 14:27 left. The Titans would then keep the lead in double figures for the next eight minutes until a pair of free throws from J.D. Weatherspoon trimmed the lead to 69-60 with 6:02 remaining. Detroit responded with a basket from Howard with 4:23 left to keep the lead around 10, but that ended up being the last made basket for the Titans as Toledo closed the game with a 16-5 run in the final four minutes to stay perfect on the season.

Detroit shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) overall, including 45 percent (9-of-20) from downtown, while Toledo shot 44.8 percent (30-of-67) overall, including 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from beyond the arc. Both teams finished with 36 rebounds, but the Rockets ended up with six more on the offensive glass 16-10, while also forcing 14 Titan turnovers – 10 in the second half – compered to just nine themselves. Detroit did finish with 15 assists, six steals and six blocked shots compared to just 12 assists, four steals and one block for Toledo.

Detroit will conclude its play in the 2K Sports Classic at Calihan Hall when it faces Stony Brook tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 24) at 4:00 p.m. The Seawolves won the first game on Saturday 67-61 over Florida Atlantic. The game will be televised on live locally on Comcast 900, while also streamed live online by HLN Detroit.

Tickets for the 2K Sports Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project at historic Calihan Hall are still available. For more information on season and general ticket information, click here or call the Detroit Ticket Office at (313) 993-1700.

GAME NOTES: Toledo improved to 28-24 all-time against Detroit … Juwan Howard Jr. has scored in double figures in all six games this season … Howard has also scored in double figures in three-straight games against Toledo, dating back to the 2010-11 season … Ugochukwu Njoku has recorded at least two blocked shots in four games this season and leads the Titans with 14 overall … The loss to Toledo was the Titans first non-conference home loss since losing to No. 16 Mississippi State on Dec. 17, 2011.