ATHENS – Freshman Mark Sears continued to impress with a career-high 21 points as Ohio ran away with an easy 81-58 victory against Western Michigan on Tuesday night at The Convo.

Dwight Wilson III had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Ben Vander Plas and Jason Preston each had 11 points. Preston added 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Western Michigan (2-10, 1-8 Mid-American Conference) led for the last time at 19-17, but a Sears jumper tied the score at 19, and a Wilson basket put Ohio (9-6, 5-4 MAC) up for good. The Bobcats closed the first half on a 7-0 run for a 43-31 lead and then scored the first five points of the second half for a 17-point advantage.

The Bobcats’ advantage reached 20 points less than five minutes into the second half on a Sears 3-pointer and was as big as 69-43 on a Miles Brown layup with eight minutes remaining.

“Everyone bought in at halftime and we came out and had a great start,” Vander Plas said.

With an increase in playing time, Sears has averaged 14.8 points over the last seven games. He needed only 23 minutes to go 8 of 12 from the field with six assists and three steals against the Broncos.

"(Sears) has a great finishing ability," Ohio coach Jeff Boals. "He creates contact and gets to the free throw line. His ability to get down low just adds a whole different dimension to our offense."

Greg Lee was the only player in double figures for Western Michigan with 17 points.

The Broncos committed 16 turnovers, compared to only six by the Bobcats, who also had a 13-5 advantage in offensive rebounds. That led to 20 more shot attempts for Ohio.

"We talked about at halftime, coming out with more of an urgency," Boals said. "I thought our defense created offense and we were able to push 12 points to 20 and maintain that lead steadily."

Ohio takes on Buffalo at 7 p.m. Friday in Amherst, New York, on ESPNU.