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CLEVELAND – The Ohio men's basketball team (4-6) returned to action for the Cleveland Hoops Showdown on Saturday night (Dec. 13), where the Bobcats defeated St. Bonaventure (10-2), 88-83, in thrilling overtime fashion inside Rocket Arena. 

Overall, Ohio shot 56 percent from the field, 39 percent from three and 85 percent from the line, while St. Bonaventure shot 44 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and were 17-of-19 from the line. St. Bonaventure outrebounded Ohio, 33-27, while Ohio dished out 11 assists to the Bonnies' 12. 

Ohio was led by senior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) with 25 points, while going 9-of-15 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 4-of-4 from the line. Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) had 14 points and seven boards. Freshman guard JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) added 14 points four rebounds and two assists. 

St. Bonaventure got on the board first with a jumper to take and early 2-0 lead, before a three from senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) and a jumper from Paveletzke put the Bobcats up 5-2 going into the first media. Out of the break the Bonnies took a two-point lead before a three from Hadaway stopped the Bonaventure run. Moments later, a three from redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) and a layup from sophomore guard Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) gave Ohio a 13-11 lead with 11:49 left. 

After the Bonnies tied the game at 13-13 on free throws, threes from Hadaway and Paveletzke and a layup from Kelly gave the Bobcats a 24-19 lead at the under-eight media timeout. Out of the break, the two teams traded baskets with jumpers from redshirt senior forward Jalen Breath (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Kelly, however, the Bonnies countered with their own, cutting the Ohio lead to 28-26 at the final break. Out of the break, back-to-back layups from Simmons and a jumper from Kelly helped give the Bobcats a 34-32 lead going into the half. 

At the half, Ohio shot 57.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Ohio also registered 10 rebounds to the Bonnies 11, while Ohio had seven assists. 

St. Bonaventure opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a five-point lead, forcing Ohio to burn a timeout. Out of the break, back-to-back layups from Simmons stopped the run. The two-teams continued to trade points as Ohio chipped away before a tip-in layup form Kelly tied the game at 44-44. After a dunk from Hadaway and another layup from Kelly, the Bobcats went on to take a three-point lead entering the media timeout. 

Out of the break, a dunk from Simmons, put Ohio up seven, before St. Bonaventure cut the lead to four. However, the Bobcats responded with a three from Sheldon and a layup from Hadaway to give the Bobcats a 58-51 lead with 7:47 left in the game. Out of the break, a 6-0 run from the Bonnies cut the Ohio lead to one. Moments later, a three from Paveletzke stopped the run, putting Ohio back up four, before a turnaround jumper from Paveletzke increased the lead back to 63-57, forcing the Bonnies to call a timeout with 5:32 remaining. After another jumper from Paveletzke out of the break put Ohio up 65-58, four-straight points from the Bonnies cut the Ohio lead to four going into the final media timeout. 



After the Bonnies tied the game at 65-65, a three from Paveletzke put Ohio back up three. After St. Bonaventure countered with a layup, a jumper from Paveletzke out Ohio up 70-67 with 31.0 second to go. After the Bonnies hit two free throws to cut the deficit to one, they would tie the game with another free throw, before missing the second one, sending the game to overtime tied at 70-70. 

Overtime opened with free throws from Paveletzke before the two teams kept trading baskets, with the game tied at 77-77 with 2:33 remaining in the overtime period. After the Bonnies took a two-point lead, a 5-0 run with free throws and a jumper from Simmons and put the Bobcats up five with 18 seconds to go. Down the stretch, one last jumper from Paveletzke helped seal the 88-83 overtime victory for the Bobcats. 

Up next, the Bobcats return to Athens for the start of a three-game homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 16 when Ohio takes on Ohio Wesleyan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+. 

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