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BOWING GREEN, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (13-11, 7-4 MAC) returned to action Tuesday evening (Feb. 11), coming from behind to defeat Bowling Green (9-15, 3-8 MAC), 86-81, inside the Stroh Center.  
 
The win is the first for the Bobcats inside the Stroh Center since 2017. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 47.1 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and were 30-of-34 from the line, Bowling Green shot 45.9 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from three and were 16-of-25 from the line. BGSU outrebounded the Bobcats, 35-31 and dished out 14 assists to Ohio's 12. The Bobcats also recorded six steals and forced 13 Falcon turnovers. 
 
Individually, Ohio was led by graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) with 17 points, going 4-of-5 from the field, 3-of-4 from three and 6-of-6 from the line, while dishing out four assists. Redshirt sophomore guard AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) added 16 points and five rebounds, while going 7-of-8 from the line. Senior forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) added 15 points, while junior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) scored 14 points, all in the second half, while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. 
 
Bowling Green won the tip and got on the board first with a three. After BGSU took a 5-0 lead, a driving layup from Clayton stopped the run. However, the Falcons quickly took a 10-2 lead, forcing Ohio to burn a 30 second time out minutes into the game. Out of the timeout, back-to-back threes from Mitchell stopped the scoring drought, cutting the deficit to 12-8 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, free throws from Brown cut the deficit to two. After BGSU went back up three, a three from junior guard Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) and a layup from graduate student forward Vic Searls (Hilliard, Ohio) put the Bobcat up two, before a free throw cut the lead to one with 11:31 remaining in the half. 
 
Out of the break, a dunk from Clayton and two more free throws from Brown put the Bobcats up five, before a jumper and free throws from the Falcons stopped the run from the Bobcats and cut the lead down to one. Moments later a three and a layup from Searls put the Bobcats up 24-18 going into the under-eight media timeout. Out of the break, BGSU went on a 5-2 run to cut the Ohio lead to three, before a layup from Searls once again game the Bobcats a five-point lead going into the final media timeout of the half. 
 
A 6-0 run from the Falcons put BGSU back in front before free throws from Mitchell gave Ohio a one-point lead. However, BGSU hit a three at the buzzer to take a 34-32 lead into halftime. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 38.5 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and were 8-of-8 from the line, while BGSU shot 44.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and were 6-of-10 from the line. Both teams grabbed 15 rebounds, while Ohio had eight assists, five steals and forced eight turnovers. 
 
BGSU opened the second half on a 7-2 run before a three-point play from freshman guard Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) stopped the run. However, the Falcons countered with a 5-0 run again to take a 46-38 lead into the first media timeout. After BGSU went up 10, a three from James stopped the run, followed by a three and a jumper from Brown cut the Ohio deficit to four with 13:44 to go. The two teams continued to trade baskets with the Falcons taking a 54-48 lead into the under-12 media timeout. 
 
Out of the timeout, the Bobcats used free throws from Clayton and a three-point play from Paveletzke to tie the game at 54-54. Moments later, free throws from Brown gave the Bobcats their first lead of the half. After BGSU tied the game up with free throws, a driving layup from Brown helped give Ohio a 58-57 lead with 7:41 remaining in the game. 
 
After BGSU tied the game at 60-60, a jumper from Clayton put Ohio back up two. Once again, BGSU tied the game up, but a free throw from Paveletzke and a layup from Mitchell put the Bobcats up three. A dunk from BGSU cut the lead to one, but a three from Mitchell game Ohio a four-point lead, before a layup and free throw cut the Ohio lead to 68-67 with under four minutes to go. After BGSU tied the game at 72-72 with a three, the two teams traded layups before a three from Mitchell put Ohio up 77-74 with 1:47 to go. 
 
Two free throws from Clayton and four more from Paveletzke put Ohio up 83-75 with 31.1 seconds to go. After a three from BGSU cut the lead to five, two more free throws from Ohio padded the lead. However, the Falcons hit a three with 8.9 seconds left, cutting the Ohio lead to 85-81. With 4.5 seconds left, Clayton hit one last free throw to secure the 86-81 victory. 
 
For BGSU, Marcus Johnson led the Falcons with 21 points, while Derrick Butler scored 18. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats head to Kent, Ohio on Friday, Feb. 14 to take on Kent State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the M.A.C. Center and can be seen nationally on CBS Sports Network. 
 
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