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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (5-2) returned to action in the Convocation Center with a 74-73 win against the Delaware Blue Hens (5-3) on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 2).
Overall, Ohio shot 42.9 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from three and was 10-of-21 from the line, while Delaware shot 40.6 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from three and was 11-of-19 from the line. Delaware outrebounded Ohio, 45-44, while Ohio recorded four steals.
Individually, sophomore guard Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) tied a career-high, leading Ohio with 21 points and five rebounds, going 9-of-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from the line. Senior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) scored 15 points, going 7-of-18 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line, while junior forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) and graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) added 10 points apiece. Clayton also added a career-high five blocks. Sophomore forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) had a season-high seven points.
The game started slow for both Ohio and Delaware. Sophomore guard AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) opened the scoring for the Bobcats with a second-chance layup. The Bobcats and Blue Hens traded jumpers before going into the first media timeout with 15:07 remaining in the half. Coming out of the timeout, Ohio and Delaware continued to trade baskets staying within a few points of each other.
With 7:28 remaining in the half, Delaware gained the first offensive lead of the game with seven points forcing Ohio to call a 30-second timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats found themselves in a scoring drought. James was able end it a few minutes later with a second-chance jumper in the paint.
With 3:23 left in the half, Delaware stretched the lead to ten. Mitchell made two free throws, closing the score gap before going into the locker room. The Blue Hens led 36-28 at the half.
At the half, Ohio shot 31.4 percent from the field, 20 percent from three and were 4-for-10 from the line. On the other end of the court, Delaware shot 41.7 percent from the field, 23.7 percent from three and was 3-of-6 from the line. Delaware outrebounded Ohio 25-23, but Ohio recorded two steals.
Delaware opened the scoring in the second half, but Ohio responded quickly with a dunk by Clayton and a layup by Hunter. Ohio continued to close the gap against Delaware with James scoring seven points from three layups and a free throw.
The Bobcats had layups from Hadaway and James to shrink the deficit with 8:47 remaining in the half. Back-to-back layups from Hunter and a three-point jumper from Clayton set the score 68-65 with the Bobcats behind by three going into the final media timeout of the game.
Ohio came out of the timeout and Mitchell made a driving layup to put the Bobcats behind by one. James tied the score 68-68 a moment later at the free throw line. The Blue Hens called a timeout to slow Ohio's run.
Delaware led by one point with 49 seconds left, but Hunter cut down the lane, scoring a left-handed layup to give Ohio the lead and forcing Delaware to take their last timeout.
After a missed free throw from Ohio, the Blue Hens moved down the court as the clock ticked down. The ball was moved across the court for an open corner three as the time expired but the shot missed. The Bobcats won 74-73 after facing an 11-point deficit with 13:53 left in the second half.
For Delaware, Jyare Davis had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Jalun Trent added 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Bobcats will be in action in the Convocation Center on Wednesday, Dec. 6 to take on the Youngstown State Penguins. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
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