ATHENS – Arkansas State took the lead in the final four minutes and topped Ohio in its basketball season opener 89-85 on Monday night at The Convo.

The Bobcats led by seven at halftime and held an advantage throughout most of the second half, but the Red Wolves were best when it mattered most, down the stretch. They went up 77-75 on a pair of Joey Chammaa free throws with 3:54 left and held the lead from there.

That allowed them to withstand a career night from Aidan Hadaway, who scored 28 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Bobcats. Jackson Paveletzke added 16 points, and Javan Simmons had 14 points.

Chammaa, off the bench, and Chandler Jackson both scored 21 points for Arkansas State.

"It's a growth process for us,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. “We're obviously disappointed that we lost the game. I thought we should have won the game.”

Ohio held its biggest lead of 33-22 on a Jalen Breath layup just 2:45 before halftime. The Red Wolves narrowed their deficit to as little as four and went into the break trailing 39-32 after Paveletzke scored a layup at the buzzer.

That was as big as the lead got the rest of the way, though the Bobcats maintained an advantage for most of the next 16 minutes. Chammaa hit a 3-pointer that put Arkansas State up 68-66 with 9:07 remaining, but baskets by Paveletzke, Elijah Elliott and Simmons put Ohio back in control.

The Red Wolves tied it at 72 and then 75 before finally taking the lead for good. After Chammaa’s free throws, Matt Hayman made two at the line, making it 80-76 with 2:38 remaining.

Simmons answered with two from the line, but Jaxon Ellingsworth stretched the lead to five with a 3-pointer. Simmons hit two more foul shots, and after a Hampton dunk, Hadaway scored a layup with 39 seconds left that made it a three-point game again.

Chandler was fouled with 12 seconds to go and made both shots. Paveletzke converted a three-point play at the rim with seven seconds left to make it 87-85, but Jackson was good on two more free throws to put it away.

"We knew coming in that our non-conference schedule was really, really challenging," Boals said. “We just have to keep growing from this, keep learning and not make the same mistakes."

Arkansas State went 25 of 28 at the foul line, compared to 15 of 22 by Ohio.

The Bobcats led 12-7 at the start of the game, went cold for a short while and gave up a 12-0 run that put the Red Wolves on top by seven. The advantage reached 22-13 on a Jackson 3-pointer.

Beginning and ending with Breath layups, Ohio took over by scoring the next 20 points in a row.

Dior Conners had eight points, Ajay Sheldon scored seven points, and Elliott and Breath both finished with six points.

The Bobcats shot 49.2% for the game, including 60% in the second half, but they were matched by the Red Wolves, who finished at 48.2% on the night and eliminated their first-half turnover problem with only three in the second half after 15 in the first half.

Arkansas State outrebounded Ohio 41-25, had 13 offensive boards and had a 21-4 advantage in second chance points.

The game was part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, with a road trip set for the Bobcats on Feb. 7.

Ohio welcomes Illinois State into The Convo at 7 p.m. Thursday.