TOLEDO – As a junior with three years of collegiate experience, John Floyd knows that no matter how many good things one player can do, it can all be wiped out with a single mistake.

So, despite scoring 17 points on 50 percent shooting, he was disappointed with himself for giving the University of Toledo all the momentum in the defining moments of the second half that led the Rockets to a hard-fought, 72-64, victory at Savage Hall.

With his team down by one point and the Falcons desperate to find an answer at the offensive end, Floyd caught the ball at the top of the key and sunk a 3-pointer from NBA range over the outstretched hands of Jonathan Amos to put BG up 53-51.

Floyd pumped his fist and ran down the court. Seconds later an official tagged Floyd with a technical foul for something he said to Amos.

That gave Toledo two free throws, both made by Justin Ingram who had 15 points on the night, and the ball. On the ensuing possession the Falcons squandered 29 seconds of solid defense by giving Antoine Currie just enough room to sink a buzzer-beating 3 to put the Rockets up by three.

They would not trail for the rest of the game.

“As a veteran guy I’ve got to be smarter than that,” Floyd said. “It was a dumb mistake by me and I think it completely changed the momentum of the game.”

Up to that point Floyd was playing a brilliant game. When the Rockets came out of the gate in the first half they were playing aggressively and jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead. Floyd slowed things down for the visiting Falcons and scored eight straight points to put the Falcons ahead 13-12. Overall he scored 12 points in the first half on an efficient 5-for-7 shooting.

BGSU coach Dan Dakich was surprised by the technical foul call.

“The referee told me what he said, and quite frankly, you might as well give 100 technicals in a basketball game if what the referee told me he said was a technical,” Dakich said. “I don’t blame [Floyd]. Anyone who has played basketball in a game like this, certainly John has to not do that, but my God.”

The game seemed like an uphill battle all night for the Falcons as they were hampered by foul trouble throughout the second half.

Within the first five minutes of the second half, BGSU had already put Toledo in the penalty and with 11:50 to go in the game, the Rockets were already in the double bonus.

By that time both Steven Wright and Martin Samarco were on the bench with four personal fouls. Within two minutes Mawel Soler also had four personal fouls.

The foul trouble limited Samarco Wright and Soler to 14, 12 and 11 minutes in the second half, respectively.

With three important pieces in and out of the line up all the offensive rhythm the team established in the first half escaped them.

For the game the Falcons committed 33 personal fouls, had four players foul out and attempted 18 less free throws than the Rockets, including the end of the game when they intentionally put Toledo on the line in an effort to come back.

After shooting over 52 percent in the first half the Falcons managed only 34 percent in the second half on 9-of-26 shooting.

“We just have to be smart with the fouls,” Floyd said. “Obviously with Steve and Samarco having limited minutes in the second half, those are our two cutters. It was tough because it seemed wherever we went there were two and three Toledo defenders.”

But what it came down to in the end, said Dakich, was Toledo’s ability to make the plays they needed in order to win the game, including those two clutch 3-pointers.

“Ultimately in basketball that is what most games come down to when both teams are competing,” Dakich said.