ATHENS – After giving up a late lead in its season opener, Ohio was strong down the stretch this time in taking a 72-68 victory against Illinois State on Thursday night at The Convo.

The Bobcats trailed by eight at one point in the second half but used a 13-0 run to take the lead and never lost it.

Jackson Paveletzke led Ohio (1-1) with 19 points and six assists, while transfers Javan Simmons (16 points) and Jalen Breath (14 points) provided a strong presence inside.

Johnn Kinziger and Boden Skunberg had 15 points each for the Redbirds, with Ty Pence adding 14 points.

With the score tied at 31, Illinois State (0-1) began the second half with a 10-2 run, going up 41-33 on a Skunberg 3-pointer.

Five minutes later, the Redbirds still led by seven when back-to-back Breath layups began the Bobcats’ decisive run. Simmons and then JJ Kelly scored inside baskets to move Ohio in front.

The run continued with a Kiir Kuany free throw and then layups from Paveletzke and Simmons, making it 55-49.

Illinois State scored the next two baskets to get within two, but it did not get any closer the rest of the night. Dior Conners hit the only 3-pointer by Ohio on the night to extend the advantage to five, and a Paveletzke layup with 4:55 left made it 62-55.

Chase Walker drained a 3-pointer that got the Redbirds to within 64-61 with 2:44 to go. Simmons scored a layup and then Paveletzke made two free throws to make it a seven-point game, and then an Ajay Sheldon foul shot put the score at 69-61 and essentially put it out of reach.

The Bobcats jumped out to an 11-2 lead to start the game, capped by a Breath three-point play. The advantage was 22-13 on a Kuany alley-oop dunk midway through the first half.

Illinois State scored the next seven points to get back in it and tied the score by halftime.

A game after scoring a career-high 28 points, Aidan Hadaway had only eight points on 4-of-9 shooting but contributed a game-high eight rebounds.

Attempting only eight 3-pointers in the game, the Bobcats shot 50.9% from the field, though they struggled at the foul line by going 15 of 27 (55.6%). The Redbirds shot 43.5%, including 8-of-26 (30.8%) on 3-pointers, and went 6 of 11 on free throws.

While rebounding and giving up second-chance points were a big problem in the opener, Ohio was outrebounded just 36-35 in this game. The Bobcats outscored the Redbirds 50-30 in the paint.

The Bobcats head west to face St. Mary’s at 10 p.m. Tuesday.