TOLEDO, Ohio – Southeastern Louisiana senior Dominic Nelson had a career-high nine blocks but Toledo used a 14-2 first-half run to pull away to a 78-56 non-conference victory Saturday night in the John F. Savage Arena.

    Nelson's nine blocks were the second most in Lion history behind Bill Dukes' 11 against McNeese on Feb. 4, 1985. The Lions had 10 blocks overall, their most since they had 10 at Central Arkansas on Jan. 28, 2009 and tied for the eighth most in their history.

    Sophomore forward Moses Greenwood led Southeastern (6-5) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Davon Hayes added 14 points. The Lions shot 37.7 percent from the field.

    Toledo (5-6) was led by Jonathan Williams with 24 points. Jaelan Sanford contributed 15 points while Jordan Lauf had 13. Nate Navigato was also in double figures with 10 points. Zach Garber and Luke Knapke each had nine rebounds. The Rockets shot 45.3 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Lions, 41-35. 

    Southeastern got out to an 8-4 lead on a pair of baskets by Greenwood and jumpers by sophomore guard Marlain Veal and junior guard Eddy Polanco. But Toledo went on a 14-2 run over the next 5:55 to take an 18-10 lead on a 3-pointer by Sanford at 10:45 mark.

    Southeastern broke a 3:29 scoreless drought with a layup by Nelson with 10:20 left in the half. Junior forward James Currington followed with a putback to cut the deficit to four before Williams hit a 3 and added a layup to make it 25-14 at the 6:48 mark.

    Junior guard Jabbar Singleton answered with a 3 and Greenwood followed with a layup and a pair of jumpers. Hayes then buried a 3 from the right corner to pull the Lions to within 31-26 with 54 seconds left. But Garber drove in with 25 seconds remaining to give the Rockets a 33-26 halftime lead.

    Hayes hit a jumper to make it a seven-point game with 18:27 left in the game. Navigato answered with a 3 for a 38-28 lead at the 1:13 mark. Veal buried another 3 to bring the Lions to within eight, but the Rockets answered with a 9-2 run to take a 49-34 lead on a Lauf 3 with 13:49 remaining.

    A Greenwood jumper and a Currington layup got Southeastern to within 11 at the 11-minute mark. But Toledo took advantage of another 2:53 drought by the Lions to take a 57-40 lead on two Williams free throw with 8:19 left.


    Williams hit a 3 to extend Toledo's lead to 63-43 at the 6:06 mark. Hayes countered with a 3 to make it a 17-point game with 5:47 left but the Lions could not get any closer. The Rockets took their biggest lead at 72-49 on two Navigato free throws with 3:15 remaining.

    Southeastern will travel to North Texas for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Saturday before breaking for the Christmas holidays. The Lions close out non-conference play at Southern on Dec. 28.