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ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio men's basketball team (13-2, 4-0 MAC) never trailed Tuesday night (Jan. 11), defeating Bowling Green (8-7, 1-3 MAC), 85-79, inside the Convocation Center. The Bobcats have now won eight-straight and are 9-0 inside the Convo. 

Leading the Bobcats was fifth-year forward Jason Carter (Johnstown, Ohio) who scored 22 points, went 9-of-14 from the field, 4-of-7 from the line, grabbed eight rebounds and recorded three assists. Sophomore guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) followed with 19, grabbing six rebounds and going 10-of-10 at the line. Senior guard Tommy Schmock (Cleveland, Ohio) added a season-high 17 points, going 4-of-7 for the three and collecting seven rebounds. Freshman forward AJ Clayton (Duncan Falls) added added a career-high 12 points, nine of which came from threes.

Overall, Ohio shot 44 percent from the field, 31 percent from the three, and went 23-of-30 from the line, while Bowling Green shot 43 percent from the field, 39 percent from the three, and went 11-of-15 at the line. The Bobcats had 20 rebounds to the Falcons 14 and posted eight assists to their seven.

"I think number one, what an awesome awesome atmosphere," head coach Jeff Boals said. "I mean having the students bac,k it makes a big difference. The band. I mean, just a great environment for a college basketball game. And for Tuesday night to have 6,811 people you know, I appreciate it, our guys appreciate it and hopefully we can keep building on that. I thought guys controlled pretty much the whole game. We knew it was gonna be tough. Coming in, we wanted to try to get to the foul line more and outrebound them - kind of what they've what they did to us last year. And I thought our guys did a really good job of being in attack mode. Certain guys, you know, different guys, stepped up at different times. Hit some big free throws to kind of keep it at that 6-7-8 point mark there late in the game. And they did a great job finishing the game."

Ohio won the tip and got on the board first thanks to a jumper from Carter. After Bowling Green tied the game, Ohio took a four-point lead with another jumper from Carter and free throws from Sears. A Bowling Green three cut the lead to one, however, a three from Schmock increased the lead to six with 16:54 left in the first half. Out of the media timeout, Bowling Green cut the lead to two however a layup from sophomore forward Sam Towns (Columbus, Ohio) and a dunk from Clayton put Ohio up 17-11 with 13:10 left. Then with 11:07 to go, a dunk from Bowling Green cut the Bobcat lead to four going into the second media timeout.

Out of the timeout, free throws from the Falcons cut the Ohio lead back down to one. With 7:16 remaining in the first, the Bobcats extended their lead to 23-17 thanks to a layup from Carter and a second-chance dunk from Vander Plas. Bowling Green went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 24-24 before Clayton drained a three to put Ohio out 27-24 going into the final media timeout of the half. Another three from Clayton put the Bobcats up six out of the timeout, however, five points from the Falcons gave Ohio only a 32-29 lead going into the half.

At the half, the Bobcats shot 39 percent from the field and 23 percent from three, while Bowling Green shot 37 percent from the field and 36 percent from three. Both teams were 3-of-6 from the line. Ohio collected 23 rebounds to the Falcons' 19 and recorded four assists to their three.

Individually, Carter led with 10 points, going 5-of-8 from the field and grabbing three rebounds and an assist. Clayton added nine points, while Sears put up six points, two rebounds, and two assists.

Ohio opened the half with a free throw from Carter and a layup from Roderick. The Falcons countered with four points of their own before Schmock hit a three with 18:42 to go. After driving layup from Carter, Ohio was up 42-38 going into the media timeout. Out of the timeout, a layup from Roderick was followed by four points from Bowling Green. Ohio countered with a jumper from Carter and a three from Sears. The Falcons and the Bobcats traded points, putting Ohio up 54-48 with 11:39 remaining in the second.

Out of the timeout, Clayton hit a three to extend the Bobcats' lead to seven, however, Bowling Green cut the lead back down to one, forcing Ohio to take a timeout with 7:29 to go. The Bobcats responded with a 8-0 run, pushing Ohio's lead to 66-57. Despite making up some ground, the Falcons still trailed the Bobcats by five heading into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, free throws from Carter and a three from Schmock gave Ohio a 10-point lead. Threes from Bowling Green cut the lead to 78-74 with 57 seconds left, however, multiple chances at the line kept the Bobcats alive.

Despite their efforts, the Falcons were never able to take the lead and Ohio secured the 85-78 victory.

For Bowling Green, Daeqwon Plowden and Myron Gordon scored 18 points apiece, with Plowden collecting eight rebounds and Gordon recording four assists.

Up next, the Bobcats will travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to take on Central Michigan on Saturday (Jan 15). Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. inside McGuirk Arena.

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