ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands – Ohio led by 17 at halftime and 19 with 11:20 remaining, but Tulsa came storming back to top the Bobcats, 90-88, in the first round of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam at the Sports and Fitness Center.

Ohio’s hot shooting in the first half cooled off in the second half, and 16 second-half turnovers sparked the Golden Hurricane to outscore the Bobcats 39-18 down the stretch.

Jaaron Simmons finished with 30 points for Ohio (2-1) and added eight assists and five rebounds, but he also committed seven turnovers. Kenny Kaminski found his outside touch in the first half, hitting 4-of-5 3-point tries before the break, and he scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half. Jordan Dartis had 11 of his 14 points before the break.

The Bobcats’ biggest lead was 70-51 on a Treg Setty free throw. The Golden Hurricane (3-0) responded with nine straight points to quickly cut their deficit to 10 in less than two minutes.

Although Ohio did not hit a field goal for nearly seven minutes, it scored enough at the foul line to go up 81-72 on a Simmons basket with 4:41 remaining.

Simmons was fouled on the make but missed the free throw, and the Bobcats committed turnovers on five straight possessions. Tulsa turned all of them into points.

James Woodard hit a 3-pointer, Shaquille Harrison had consecutive dunks, and then Woodard’s two free throws with 2:48 remaining tied the game. Marquel Curtis hit a layup for the Golden Hurricane’s first lead of the day, and Pat Birt’s 3-pointer with just 1:34 to go capped a 14-point run and made it 86-81.

Setty split two free throws, before Harrison hit two for Tulsa with 28 seconds left, but down six, Ohio managed to give itself a shot at the end. Simmons hit a layup, and after a turnover, Dartis connected from deep with eight seconds to go, making it 88-87.

Woodward hit two free throws with six seconds left, and Tulsa selected to foul Simmons with 2.1 seconds to go before Ohio could attempt a potential game-tying 3-pointer. He made the first and intentionally missed the second, lining it hard into the front of the room. The ball came down forcefully to the floor, but time ran out before either team could grab it.

Harrison finished with 31 points, including 23 in the second half, to go along with nine rebounds and five assists for Tulsa. Brandon Swannegan had 16 points, Woodard finished with 15, Birt scored 11 and Curtis had 10.

While nothing went right down the stretch for Ohio, almost nothing went wrong early, beginning with back-to-back 3-pointers by Antonio Campbell and Simmons to begin the game.

Kaminski began a 10-0 run for Ohio with a 3-pointer at the 11:03 mark, and it was capped by a triple by Dartis that put the Bobcats ahead 28-14 with 9:11 remaining. A minute later, Dartis gave the Bobcats a 15-point lead with a layup.

Ohio matched that 15-point lead with a Kaminski 3-pointer with 6:35 remaining and with another Kaminski trey at the 4:10 mark. He hit three free throws with 2:15 to go to make it 49-34, and one more 3-pointer made it 52-35 a minute after that. Two Dartis free throws with two seconds left before the half made it a 54-37 game at the break.

It appeared Tulsa might make a run early in the second half. It scored six straight points after the break, but after the teams traded points, the Bobcats scored eight in a row, going up 66-47 on two Simmons free throws with 13:11 left in the game. Simmons’ three-point play made it 68-51 before Setty’s free throw gave Ohio its biggest lead of 19 points.

After shooting just 39.3 percent in the first half, the Golden Hurricane, coming off an upset win against Wichita State, shot 51.7 in the second half. The Bobcats were good on 61.5 percent of their attempts before the break, including 8 of 10 3-pointers, but they shot just 38.1 percent after, including 2 of 10 treys.

In a foul-plagued game, Ohio finished 30 of 40 at the foul line, while Tulsa was 34 of 46. In all, there were 60 fouls called, but no player from either team fouled out.

Tulsa scored 38 points off 23 Ohio turnovers. The Golden Hurricane committed just 10 turnovers of their own.

The Bobcats play the loser of Indiana State and Norfolk State in the consolation round of the tournament at 4 p.m. Saturday.