FOLLOW OHIO MEN'S BASKETBALL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

OXFORD, Ohio – Led by 23 points from redshirt senior froward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.), the Ohio men's basketball team (14-2, 5-0 MAC) returned to action Tuesday evening (Jan. 18), dominating Miami (8-8, 2-3 MAC), 86-63, in the first round of the 'Battle of the Bricks' inside Millett Hall. 
 
It is Ohio's ninth-straight win and their fifth-straight over Miami. Ohio is now 18-3 against Miami since the 2011-12 season. 
 
"I thought this was the first time we kind of played a complete 40 minutes on both ends," head coach Jeff Boals said. "The mindset coming in was the be the aggressor, play hard, be relentless. I thought we set the tone defensively and carried over to the half. And then we talked to halftime about how Miami has been down before made a push made a run. I think I was most proud of our guys sustaining the same effort coming in second half."
 
Ohio was led by Vander Plas with 23 points, going 9-of-13 from the field, 4-of-8 from three and grabbed six boards, dished out three assists and had four steals. Sophomore guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) added 17 points and dished out nine assists, while fifth year froward Jason Carter (Johnstown, Ohio) added 13 points. Sophomore forward Sam Towns (Columbus, Ohio) added a career-high nine rebounds in 20 minutes on the floor, while senior guard Tommy Schmock (Cleveland, Ohio) had nine points and junior guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added eight points. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 50.9 percent from the field, 39.4 percent from three and were 15-of-24 from the line, while Miami shot 36.5 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from three and were 17-of-21 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the RedHawks, 36-31, while Ohio dished out 20 assists to Miami's eight. Ohio also forced 15 turnovers and scored 14 points off them, while also registering 24 fastbreak points 
 
Miami won the tip, but Ohio immediately forced a turnover. While the RedHawks got the first field goal of the game, Ohio responded with a three from Sears to take a 3-2 lead. After Miami went up 4-3, Ohio went on a 7-0 run that included a layup from junior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) and a layup and three from Carter to give Ohio a 10-4 lead going into the first media timeout. The Bobcats continued their run over the next five minutes, extending it to a 14-2 run that included a three from Vander Plas, giving the Bobcats a 17-6 lead with 11:53 left in the first half. 
 
Out of the timeout, Ohio went up 20-8 after a driving layup from Towns. After the RedHawks hit a three, Ohio countered with a Vander Plas three to give the Bobcats a 25-11 lead with 7:45 remaining in the half. After Miami cut the Ohio lead to 25-16, a three from Roderick put Ohio back up 28-16. After two Miami layups, two threes from Vander Plas and one from Brown helped put the Bobcats up 39-23 going into the final media timeout. 
 
After Miami cut the lead to 39-27, six-straight points from Vander Plas increased Ohio's lead to 45-27 going into halftime. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 53.1 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three and were 3-of-4 from the line, while Miami shot 38.5 percent from the field, 25 percent from three and were 4-of-4 from the line, Ohio outrebounded Miami, 18-14, including six offensive boards. Ohio also dished out 12 assists to Miami's one and forced nine RedHawks' turnovers. 
 
"I think we were struggling for a while to go into the second half and kind of extend games a little bit," Vander Plas said. "We've kind of held the lead but let them back into it a little bit. So we were finally able to string together 40 minutes and kind of keep that separation the whole second half so that was big for us."
 
Individually, Vander Plas led Ohio with 20 points, hit four threes and grabbed three boards and had three steals. Sears added seven points and dished out eight assists, while Carter, Brown and Roderick all had five points. Towns finished the first half with six rebounds, including three offensive boards. 
 
Ohio opened the second half on a 15-5 run, with nine of those points coming from Sears, giving Ohio a 60-32 lead with 15:58 left in the game. Out of the timeout, a layup and a free throw from Carter increased the Ohio lead to 63-32. After both teams traded layups and free throws, a dunk from Towns forced Miami to call a timeout with Ohio leading 72-40 with 10:57 remaining in the game.  After the timeout, Miami, and Schmock traded threes, increasing the Bobcats' lead to 75-43 with 8:21 left in the game.
 
Down the stretch, Schmock hit two more threes to give Ohio an 82-52 lead before the Bobcats emptied the bench with 3:41 remaining in the game. Over the remaining three minutes, the Bobcats and RedHawks traded free throws, with the Bobcats sealing the 86-63 victory. 
 
For Miami, Dae Dae Grant led with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Marr Avance added 10 points. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats are back in Athens when they host Toledo on Friday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on CBS Sports Network. 
 
#OUohyeah #BeatMiami