JONESBORO, Ark. — The Toledo men’s basketball team came up one point short in its season opener on Monday, falling to Arkansas State 71-70 in the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Challenge.

After both teams traded baskets in the final minutes, the Red Wolves made the go-ahead free throw with four seconds left and the Rockets’ last-second heave went awry.

Mynor Strong paced Toledo with 18 points while Jaylan Ouwinga and Angel Montas, Jr., both recorded double-doubles. Ouwinga had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Montas finished with 16 points and 10 boards.

Tameron Ferguson scored a game-high 20 points for Arkansas State.

Toledo got off to a slow start, finding itself behind 19-7 midway through the first half. But the Rockets rallied and entered halftime down just 36-35.

The Red Wolves began to pull away in the second half and led by nine with seven minutes to play. Toledo fought back once again, however, and briefly regained the lead 64-62 on a three-pointer by Chris Riddle with just under three minutes to go.

Ouwinga made a midrange jumper with 30 seconds left that tied the game at 70. Arkansas State nearly turned the ball over looking to set up a potential game-winning shot, but Ferguson drew a foul and made one of two free throws.

After the Rockets grabbed the rebound off the missed second attempt, they had just 2.8 seconds to work with and were unable to complete a long inbounds pass from the baseline.

Toledo shot 40 percent from the field and struggled from beyond the arc, going just 6-for-27 (22 percent).

The Rockets also attempted just eight free throws, making six, while the Red Wolves were an ugly 10-for-23 (43 percent) from the charity stripe.

Toledo will continue its season-opening road trip with a matchup against No. 6 Michigan State at 8 p.m. on Thursday.