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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (2-0) returned to action Saturday night, defeating Cleveland State (0-2), 67-56 inside the Wolsteine Center. The Bobcats were led by sophomore guard Mark Sears, who finished with 15 points. 
 
"That was a great road win for us," head coach Jeff Boals said. "Awesome Ohio contingency here. I thought we had more fans than they did, and we have a big alumni base up here. So that was great to see. I'm proud of our guys. We knew they were going to come out and deny. We knew that first four-minute war we'd have to kind of take the wave and we really talked about getting off to a great start because of the way that they play. They just make you play basketball, because they trap, they deny, they switch, and I thought our guys for not really seeing that did a great job of handling everything."
 
Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala) finished with 15 points, going 5-of-11 from the field, 4-for-4 from the line, while dishing out four assists. Junior guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) finished with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) finished with nine points – all threes- and a team-high nine rebounds. Redshirt fifth year forward Jason Carter (Johnstown, Ohio) and senior guard Tommy Schmock (Cleveland, Ohio) both led the Bobcats with five assists. Meanwhile, sophomore forward Sam Towns (Columbus, Ohio) finished with five points, six rebounds and three assists. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 38.1 percent from the field, hit 12 threes, and went 7-of-10 from the line. Meanwhile, Cleveland State shot 38.2 percent from the field, 21.1 percent from three and 52.6 percent from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Vikings, 42-35. Meanwhile, Ohio dished out 22 assists on 24 shots made and forced 20 CSU turnovers. 
 
Ohio opened the game with the tip. After Cleveland State got the first points of the game, the Bobcats responded with five-straight, a layup from Carter and a deep three from Vander Plas. After the Vikings tied the game up at five, a layup from Sears gave Ohio a 7-5 lead entering the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, Cleveland State tied the game at 7-7 before the Bobcats went on a 5-2 run, capped by Vander Plas' second three of the game, taking a 12-9 lead with 11:20 left in the first half. 
 
The Bobcats continued to shoot well from three out of the timeout, with Towns and Schmock both draining threes to help the Bobcats go up 20-11 going to the under-eight media timeout. Out of the timeout, back-to-back threes from Roderick and Vander Plas gave the Bobcats a 16-point lead with 5:44 left. However, aided by Ohio turnovers, the Vikings went on a 7-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 31-22 with 4:41 left in the half. 
 
Both teams struggled to score after the final media timeout, with neither team scoring for the final 2:51, sending the game to the half with Ohio leading, 35-35. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 36.1 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three and hit both free throws, while CSU shot 38.5 percent from the field, 11.1 percent from three and 57.1 percent from the free throw line. Ohio outrebounded the Vikings, 24-16 and dished out 12 assists. 
 
Vander Plas led all scorers at the half with nine points, while Carter added six points, five rebounds and four assists. 
 
Cleveland State opened the second half up with a layup and then cut the Ohio lead to 10. However, a layup from Sears and two free throws from Brown were able to give Ohio the 14-point lead, before a layup from CSU cut the lead to 42-30 going into the first media timeout of the half. After the Bobcats and Vikings traded baskets out of the timeout, but a Carter layup and a three from junior guard Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio), gave the Bobcats a 52-37 lead at the under-12 media timeout. The Bobcats took their largest lead moments later when a three from freshman forward AJ Clayton (Duncan Falls, Ohio) and a dunk from Towns gave the Bobcats a 57-40 lead with 8:50 remaining in the game.
 
The Vikings were able to cut the Ohio lead to 12 with 6:36 left in the game, however, a layup from McDay and a jumper from Sears gave Ohio a 16-point lead, before a three from CSU cut the Ohio lead to 13 going into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, two free throws and a clutch three from Sears down the stretch was all the Bobcats needed to do and their defense held strong, securing the 67-56 win for the Bobcats. 
 
For Cleveland State, Nathanael Jack led with 14 points and five rebounds. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats have a quick turnaround as they head back to Athens to take on Robert Morris. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. 
 
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