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ATHENS, Ohio – Led by 26 points from sophomore guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.), the Ohio men's basketball team (15-3, 6-1 MAC) rebounded Tuesday night, defeating Northern Illinois (5-11, 2-4 MAC), 74-62, inside the Convocation Center. 
 
"I was really pleased with the way we came out after last game," head coach Jeff Boals said. "We had two really good days of practice that were similar practices that we had going into Miami game. It was exciting to see our guys respond and they responded the way I thought they would. We got it up to 28 and obviously, we didn't finish the game very well. But we'll work on that. It's better be up 28 than down 28 trying to fight back into it. I'm really proud of our guys for the response after the last game."
 
Leading the Bobcats was Sears with 26 points, going 7-of-12 from the field, and 11-of-12 from the line, while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out six assists. Redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) added 15 points, going 4-of-9 from the field, 3-of-8 from three, while grabbing five boards and dishing out four assists. Fifth year forward Jason Carter (Johnstown, Ohio) added eight points and eight boards, while sophomore forward Sam Towns (Columbus, Ohio) scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 41 percent from the field, 27 percent from three and were 18-of-24 from the line, while NIU shot 43 percent from the field, 19 percent from three and were 13-of-19 from the line. Ohio outrebounded NIU, 40-34, while Bobcats dished out 12 assists to NIU's seven. 
 
The Huskies won the tip, however the Bobcats got on the board first with layups from Carter andjunior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) to give Ohio a 4-2 lead going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, NIU took a 5-4 lead on a layup and a free throw. After Sears put Ohio back up one, NIU went on to take a 9-6 lead with 13:04 left in the half. After NIU took the lead, Ohio went on a 6-0 run that was capped by a three from Vander Plas to give Ohio a 12-9 lead going into the under-12 media timeout. 
 
After NIU went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead, a three from freshman forward AJ Clayton (Duncan Falls, Ohio) and four-straight points from Sears helped give Ohio a 19-16 lead with 7:38 left in the half. Out of the timeout, highlighted by another three from Vander Plas, Ohio took a 31-20 lead going into the final media timeout, with NIU's only points coming from free throws. Out of the timeout, Ohio went on an 8-2 run that was highlighted by a three from senior guard Tommy Schmock (Cleveland, Ohio) and a layup off a steal from Carter, forcing NIU to call a 30 second timeout. Out of the timeout, a layup from Roderick increased Ohio lead to 41-22 as Ohio went into the locker room 
 
Over the final eight minutes of the first half, the Bobcats held NIU to only two field goals. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 46 percent from the field, 31 percent from three and were 11-of-14 from the line. Meanwhile, NIU shot 33 percent from the field, did not make a three and were 8-of-12 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Huskies, 20-12, while the Bobcats dished out eight assists the NIU's one. The Bobcats also forced nine turnovers, scoring 11 points off them. 
 
Individually, Sears led with 13 points, while Vander Plas added 10 points and five rebounds. Carter also grabbed five boards to go along with his five points. 
 
Vander Plas opened the second half up with his third three of the night, putting Ohio up 44-22. After NIU cut the Ohio lead to 18, two free throws and a layup from Sears and a layup from Vander Plas increased Ohio's lead to 24 before NIU cut the lead to 50-28 going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, NIU went on a 6-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 16 with 13:34 left it the game. The back-to-back layups from Towns put Ohio up 54-37 going int o the under-12 timeout. 
 
Out of the timeout, two more points from Towns and threes from Brown, Sears and Schmock helped increase the Bobcats' lead to 70-42 with 7:27 remaining in the game. Out of the timeout, NIU went on a 9-0 run to cut the Bobcats' lead to 70-51 going into the final media timeout. 
 
NIU went on to cut the Ohio lead to 12 before a driving layup from Sears secured the Bobcats' 74-62 victory. 
 
"Friday night was very embarrassing," Sears said. "And we just wanted to bounce back. especially in front of our home court."
 
For NIU, Keshawn Williams scored 12 points, while Kaleb Thornton added 10. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats head to Buffalo, N.Y. Friday, Jan. 28 to take on Buffalo. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU. 
 
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