ATHENS – Loren Christian Jackson scored 35 points, and Mid-American Conference leading Akron held off Ohio 88-86 on Saturday at The Convo.

Jordan Dartis paced the Bobcats with 21 points, with Ben Vander Plas adding 18 points despite early foul trouble, but Ohio could not overcome 13-of-23 3-point shooting – including 7 of 9 by Jackson – by one of the nation’s top outside shooting teams.

Jackson’s jumper with 1:53 remaining gave the Zips an 86-79 lead, but the Bobcats (10-10, 2-5 MAC) were able to make a game of it, beginning with a Vander Plas dunk. After a miss by Akron, Dartis drained a 3-pointer after Ohio’s third offensive rebound of the possession to make it 86-84 with about 40 seconds to go.

Jackson, who scored 17 of Akron’s final 19... <Read More>

ATHENS – Marreon Jackson and Luke Knapke combined for 51 points to lead Toledo to an 83-74 victory against Ohio on Tuesday night at The Convo.

Jackson scored 29 points with seven assists, and Knapke finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Dylan Alderson added 11 points, and Keshaun Sanders added 10 points off the bench for the Rockets, who shot 48.3%, including 8 of 20 from long range.

Jason Preston led the Bobcats (10-9, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) with 27 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, but he did not get much help. Ben Roderick had 11 points off the bench, and Ben Vander Plas finished with nine points in 24 foul-plagued minutes.

Toledo (11-8, 3-3 MAC) raced out to an early 10-point lead at 16-6, but Ohio... <Read More>

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Ohio overcame a terrible offensive start to beat Eastern Michigan for the second time this season, taking a 60-58 victory on Saturday at The Convocation Center in Ypsilanti.

The Bobcats missed their first 11 field goal attempts, trailed by 13 late in the first half but came back to shoot 60% in the second half, beating the Eagles 11 days after topping them in Athens and keeping them winless in Mid-American Conference play.

Ben Vander Plas led the way once again with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Jason Preston had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jordan Dartis added 11 points.

But for most of the first half, points were extremely hard to come by for Ohio (10-8, 2-3 MAC). It trailed 12-4 when it finally made... <Read More>

AMHERST, N.Y. – Jeenathan Williams scored a go-ahead basket inside with 15 seconds left, and Buffalo overcame 55 combined points from Ben Vander Plas and Jason Preston in a 76-73 victory on Tuesday night at UB Arena.

Vander Plas, who scored a career-high 28 points, put the Bobcats ahead with a layup on a long bounce feed inside from Preston. He initially fumbled the ball but gathered it deep under the basket and was able to convert open after a defensive overplay.

Ohio (9-8, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) had two chances after Williams’ go-ahead basket. Preston’s drive to the basket was blocked out of bounds by Josh Mballa with less than five seconds left, and the inbound pass that followed was stolen away by Jayvon Graves and knocked out of... <Read More>

ATHENS – Justin Turner and Bowling Green had a dominant second half, quickly erasing an Ohio halftime lead on the way to an 83-74 Falcons victory on Saturday at The Convo.

Turner scored 29 points as Bowling Green (11-5, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) outscored Ohio 50-31 after halftime when Ohio led 43-33.

Ben Vander Plas had 19 of his career-high 25 points in the first half for the Bobcats (9-7, 1-2 MAC). Jason Preston added 15 points, but it came on 5-of-14 shooting.

"It was a tale of two halves," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "In the first half, we were able to do what we wanted offensively, and in the second half, they did whatever they wanted offensively. In a game like this, it comes down to getting stops.”

Vander Plas’ hot shooting in... <Read More>