TOLEDO, Ohio – Ohio graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell scored his 1,000^th career point, however the Ohio men's basketball team (16-15, 10-8 MAC) was unable to overcome a strong shooting night from Toledo (17-14, 10-8 MAC), falling to the Rockets, 96-82, in the regular season finale inside Savage Arena.  

Overall, Ohio shot 49 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and were 16-of-18 from the line, while Toledo shot 60 percent from the field, 29 percent from three and were 18-of-20 from the line. Toledo outrebounded Ohio, 31-27, while they also dished out 16 assists to the Bobcats' 13. Ohio recorded six steals, while Toledo grabbed four. 

Ohio was led by junior Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) with a season-high 20 points, going 7-of-11 from the field, hit a career-high six threes and grabbed four rebounds, Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) scored 18 points, going 7-of-13 from the field, 4-of-4 from the line and grabbing two rebounds, while junior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) added 15 points, going 5-of-10 from the field. Senior forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) scored 11 points, while freshman guard Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds and four assists. Graduate student forward Vic Searls (Hilliard, Ohio) scored nine points and had six boards. 

Toledo won the tip and got on the board first, however, a driving layup from Paveletzke tied the game up at 2-2. The two teams traded baskets over the first five minutes, with a jumper from Paveletzke tying the game at 10-10 going into the first media timeout. The two teams continued to trade baskets out of the break, before a layup from Searls put the Bobcats up 17-16 with 11:01 left in the half. Free throws from Mitchell and a three from Clayton helped put Ohio up four, however, the Rockets were able to tie the game up with a three with 8:52 left. After Toledo took a two-point lead, a three from James put Ohio back up one, however Toledo matched it with a three of their own to take a two-point lead in the under-eight media timeout. 

Out of the break, a three from James put the Bobcats back up one. After a three from Elliott gave the Bobcats a two-point lead, Toledo tied the game back up with a jumper before a free throw from Paveletzke gave the Bobcats a 36-35 lead with 3:56 remaining in the half. Out of the break, a three from James put Ohio back up four, however Toledo matched it with a three of their own to cut the lead back down to one. Moments later, a three-point play from Toledo, gave the Rockets a two-point lead with 2:17 left in the half. After a jumper from James tied the game at 41-41, Toledo went on a 6-0 run to close the half, taking a 47-41 lead into halftime. 

At the half, Ohio shot 46 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and 83 percent from the line, while Toledo shot 68 percent from three, 43 percent from three and were 2-of-2 from the line. Toledo outrebounded Ohio, 15-12, while Ohio recorded five steals to Toledo's one. 

Toledo opened the second half on a 4-0 run, taking a 10-point lead and forcing Ohio to burn a timeout a minute into the half. Back-to-back layups from Clayton and Mitchell cut the deficit down to six, however, Toledo would retake a 10-point lead before a tip-in basket from Clayton cut the deficit to eight with 15:36 to go in the game. 

After Ohio cut the deficit to seven, Toledo went a retook a 10-point lead, before a three from James cut the Toledo lead back down to seven, before two Toledo free throws stopped the Ohio run. After free throws from junior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) cut the deficit to five, Toledo responded with a jumper before a three from James cut the Toledo lead to four. But moments later, a dunk from Toledo put the Rockets back up six with 7:16 to go. 

A Layup from Clayton was able to cut the Toledo lead back down to six, however, a 4-0 run from Toledo stopped the Bobcats run, putting them back up 10 with 3:21 to go. Ohio was unable to generate any sustained offense over the remaining three minutes, falling, 96-82. 

For Toledo, Javan Simmons scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Sam Lewis scored 20 and Seth Hubbard added 17 points and nine rebounds. 

Up next, the Bobcats head to Cleveland, Ohio for the 2025 Mid-American Conference Tournament March 13-15 inside Rocket Arena. The No. 5 seeded Bobcats will take on No. 4 Toledo at around 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday (March 13). 

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