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ATHENS, Ohio – With five Bobcats scoring in double figures, the Ohio men's basketball team (4-1) rebounded from last Friday's defeat, downing Mount St. Mary's (2-4), 73-59, Monday night inside the Convocation Center. 
 
Sophomore guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) led Ohio with 15 points, going 6-of-18 from the field, while dishing out seven assists. Junior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) added 12 points, as did 5^th year forward Jason Carter (Johnstown, Ohio) who also grabbed a team-leading seven boards and four steals. Junior guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added 11 points, while redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) scored 10 points with six rebounds and three steals. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 46.8 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three and 73.3 percent from the line, while The Mount shot 53.5 percent from the field, 46.2 percent from three and 70.0 percent from the line. Ohio outrebounded The Mount, 30-26, while the Bobcats registered 12 assists and forced 20 turnovers. The Bobcats also had 10 steals and 14 offensive rebounds.
 
"I thought you know our guys were very resilient tonight," head coach Jeff Boals said. "I thought they showed some grit, especially in that second half. Mount St. Mary's is a good team. Scouting them, we knew coming in, they were going to be very physical, which they were. And we knew that no matter how much they were down, they're going to continue to fight battle and come back. And they did it against Kentucky and they did against Robert Morris. They were down big. came back and won overtime. And we just kept telling the guys you can't relax. I thought in the second half our defense really picked up, made some adjustments at halftime that really helped our defense and half court pressure."
 
The Bobcats opened the game off on a 7-0 run before The Mount got on the board with a three at the 15:55 mark, cutting the Ohio lead to 7-3 going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mountaineers cut the Ohio lead to one with back-to-back threes. However, layups from Sears and junior guard Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio) pushed Ohio's lead back to eight. After The Mount hit two more threes to cut the Ohio lead to three, a three from freshmanf forward AJ Clayton (Duncan Falls, Ohio) pushed the Bobcats to a 22-16 lead with 9:41 left in the half.  
 
Layups from senior guard Tommy Schmock (Cleveland, Ohio) and Brown brought the Bobcats' lead to eight, however a layup from The Mount cut the Ohio lead back to six going into the under-six media timeout. The Bobcats and The Mount traded baskets over the next five minutes, with a layup from Carter to give Ohio 32-24 lead with 1:30 left in the half. Mount St. Mary's hit two free throws, cutting the Ohio lead to 32-26 at the half. 
 
At the half, the Bobcats shot 50 percent from the field, 20 percent from three and 50 percent from the line, while Mount St. Mary's shot 53 percent from the field, 63 percent from three and 25 percent from the line. Ohio outrebounded The Mount, 14-13, while recording seven steals and forcing 12 turnovers. 
 
Individually, Sears led the Bobcats in the half with 11 points, two rebounds and four assists, while Brown added six points with three rebounds for Carter. 


 
Carter opened the second half with the first points of the half. After a layup from The Mount, a three from Vander Plas followed by a Carter layup pushed the Bobcats to an 11-point lead. After both teams traded baskets, Ohio capitalized on back-to-back Mount St. Mary's turnovers, with Roderick hitting both layups to give Ohio a 45-32 lead, forcing The Mount to call a timeout with 16:02 left in the game. 
 
Over the next five minutes, the Bobcats stretched their lead to 14 before The Mount cut the Bobcats' lead in half with 12:16 left in the game. The Bobcats then took back over, hitting two free throws and a jumper from McDay to give Ohio the 56-45 lead with 11:11 left in the game. Ohio and The Mount traded baskets, with the Mountaineers cutting the Ohio lead to 12 multiple times. However, a layup and free throw from Roderick and a three and jumper from Brown, the Bobcats extended their lead to 69-49 with five minutes left in the game. 
 
After the Bobcats went up 20, a three from Vander Plas with 4:16 left in the game, put Ohio up 73-51 going into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats held on over the final four minutes, securing the 73-59 victory. 
 
For Mount St. Mary's, Jalen Benjamin led with 23 points and was 5-of-6 from three. Mezie Offurum added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats have a few days off before returning to the Convo for a Black Friday matchup with Concordia. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. 
 
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