ATHENS – Ohio held Ashland to 33.6 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers in a dominant defensive effort as the Bobcats won their only exhibition game, 66-44, on Saturday at The Convo.

Ohio led 37-22 at halftime and scored 12 straight points after the Eagles scored the opening point of the second half.

Seven Ohio players played between 17 and 27 minutes and six of them scored seven or more points, led by Nick Kellogg’s 12 points. Ricardo Johnson finished with 11 points, while Stevie Taylor had 10 points and team-highs of seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.

“A lot of new guys on the team had to get in this type of environment so they can correct some things,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “But it was good to see our team get 19 assists. It was good to see different guys get minutes. There is obviously a lot we have to work on for next week, but I like how we are progressing.”

Ashland took a 9-5 lead four minutes into the game on a Jett Speelman 3-pointer, but scored 14 straight points to take control. Taylor assisted on a layup and a 3-pointer by T.J. Hall to put the Bobcats on top and then Taylor hit Travis Wilkins for a 3-pointer after a steal by Wilkins.

Maurice Ndour and Taylor drilled consecutive shots from beyond the arc to cap the run with Ohio leading 19-9.

Ashland closed to within six with 4:32 remaining in the first half before the Bobcats finished on an 8-0 run. Treg Setty knocked down a 3-pointer, Ricardo Johnson had a steal and a dunk and Taylor assisted a Kellogg 3-pointer.

Spanning the two halves, Ohio outscored Ashland 17-1 in seven minutes. Taylor made his impact scoring to cap off the run by making a free throw, putting back his own miss on a miss of the second attempt and then getting a steal for a layup to put the Bobcats up 46-23 less than three minutes into the second half.

Ohio’s biggest lead was 62-35 on a T.J. Hall layup on a feed from Taylor with 6:54 remaining.

The Bobcats shot 52.9 percent, including 32 percent on 3-point tries. Johnson was 5 of 6 and Taylor was 4 of 6 from the field.

Jon Smith scored only three points but matched Taylor for the team lead in rebounds with six. Johnson had four assists and three steals.

Taylor played 26 minutes because transfer point guard Javarez Willis sat out as a disciplinary action for being charged for a minor misdemeanor drug abuse charge in April that was later dismissed.

“Coach wanted me to play with a lot of confidence and lead his team,” Taylor said. “I really think I did a good job of that tonight. Of course I will go back and watch film and correct things and come back ready to play for Saturday.”

Ndour and Hall had nine points each for the Bobcats, while Wilkins finished with seven.

Paul Honigford led the Eagles with eight points and eight rebounds.

Ohio opens the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday against Northern Iowa.