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NEWARK, Del. – Led by a career-high 23 points from sophomore forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio), the Ohio men's basketball team (7-5) defeated Delaware (8-5), 95-76, Wednesday night inside the Bob Carpenter Center. 
 
"I'm really proud of our guys and I thought we played a complete 40 minutes," head coach Jeff Boals said. "You know, they made a couple runs in certain wars, but our defense really carried us and got us a really good lead. What can you say about AJ Clayton's performance? He and Dwight Wilson, it's good to have that balance. We had five guys in double figures again, shooting 53%, 43% and 95% from the free throw line on the road against a really good team, you know, just a great road win for our guys."
 
Overall, Ohio shot 52.4 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from three and were 20-of-21 from the line, while Delaware shot 42.2 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and were 12-of-18 from the line. Ohio outrebounded Delaware, 43-29, and dished out 16 assists to the Blue Hens' 18. 
 
Individually, Clayton led Ohio with 23 points, going 6-of-11 from the field, 9-of-9 from the line and grabbed six rebounds. Graduate student forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 16 points and 13 rebounds for a double double. Freshman guard AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds, while senior guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers, while junior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) also scored 11 points. 
 
Ohio won the tip, but Delaware got on the board first with a three. The Bobcats countered with a layup from Wilson III and a three from Clayton to take an early 5-3 lead. After Delaware hit another three, back-to-back layups from AJ Brown out Ohio up 9-6 early. After the Blue Hens took a four-point lead, another three from Clayton cut the deficit to 13-12 going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, Delaware missed two free throws and the Bobcats countered with a layup and two free throws from Roderick and a jumper from Baker, giving Ohio an 18-13 lead with 11:43 remaining in the first half. Out of the timeout, a three and a free throw from AJ Brown and another layup from Wilson III increased the Ohio lead to 24-13, forcing the Blue Hens to call a timeout with 10:15 remaining in the half. 
 
Out of the timeout, Ohio continued their run with another three from AJ Brown and a layup from Wilson III gave Ohio a 16-point lead, before Delaware scored for the first time since the 15:50 mark, cutting the Ohio lead to 14. Ohio quickly responded with a layup from AJ Brown and a layup from junior center Gabe Wiznitzer (Walhalla, S.C.), putting Ohio up 18, however a three from the Blue Hens stopped that run, but Wiznitzer followed it up with a layup, giving Ohio a 35-18 lead with 7:20 remaining in the half. 
 
Out of the timeout, back-to-back layups from Delaware cut the Ohio lead to 14, before a three from freshman guard Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) put the Bobcats up 39-22. The Blue Hens then went on a 7-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 10, going into the final media timeout of the half. After Delaware cut the Ohio lead to nine with 3:03 remaining in the half, the Bobcats went on a 10-0 run with threes from Miles Brown and Hunter, and layups from senior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) and Wilson III, giving Ohio a 51-34 lead going into the half. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 56 percent from the field, 54 percent from three and were 4-of-4 from the line, while Delaware shot 42 percent from the field, 33 percent from three and were 3-of-5 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Blue Hens, 24-11 and scored 16 bench points and 26 points in the paint. 
 
Individually, Ohio was led by AJ Brown with 13 points, followed by Wilson III with eight points and eight rebounds. Roderick finished with six points and five boards, while Clayton added six points and four rebounds.
 
Ohio opened the second half with two free throws, before a three from Delaware cut the Ohio lead back to 16. After both teams traded baskets, Ohio took a 20-point lead on a layup from Clayton, however the Blue Hens followed it up with a three. After free throws from Hunter put Ohio back up 19, the two teams traded jumpers, with Delaware cutting the Ohio lead to 63-47 going into the first media timeout of the half. After Ohio went back up 18, six-straight points from the Blue Hens cut the Ohio lead down to 12 with 12:47 left in the game, forcing the Bobcats to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout, a layup and a dunk from the Bobcats put Ohio up 69-53 going into the under-12 media timeout. 
 
Out of the timeout, Ohio went back up 18 with a dunk from Clayton and a layup from Wilson III. After both teams traded baskets, two threes from Miles Brown gave the Bobcats a 78-61 lead, however Delaware responded with a layup, cutting the Bobcats' lead to 78-63 with 8:25 remaining in the game. After Delaware cut the Ohio lead to 11, two free throws from Wilson III and four from Clayton put the Bobcats back up 17 with 5:38 to go. After the two teams traded baskets, another layup from Clayton put the Bobcats up 88-71 going into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, more free throws from Clayton and a layup from Hunter gave the Bobcats a 22-point lead with 2:25 remaining in the game. 
 
Over the final two minutes, the Ohio defense held strong, securing the Bobcats' 95-76 victory. 
 
For Delaware, Jameer Nelson, Jr. scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Ebby Asamoah scored 17. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats take a week off for the holiday break before returning to Athens on Friday, Dec. 30 to take on Chicago State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. 
 
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