ATHENS – Toledo built an early 20-point lead and held off a push from Ohio to win its 11th straight game in the series 79-67 on Saturday at The Convo.

The Rockets went up 33-13 in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Bobcats cut their deficit to two midway through the second half on three occasions but got no closer and have not beaten Toledo since a Mid-American Conference semifinal victory in 2021. Ohio has not won on its home floor against the Rockets since 2014.

Javan Simmons was cold early but finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against his former team. Aidan Hadaway also had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Ajay Sheldon scored 12 points on 4-of-8 3-point shooting, and Jackson Paveletzke had 11 points.

"When you battle back like that, every possession is going to matter and obviously we didn't make enough plays to win," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said.

Lee Blyden Jr. had a game-high of 22 points with nine rebounds, while Sonny Wilson scored 21 points and had seven rebounds for the Rockets (16-13, 10-6 MAC).

Toledo scored the game’s first nine points, and then with a 22-13 lead, it went on an 11-0 run to go up by 20 points.

Ohio (15-14, 9-7 MAC) had a 7-0 run late in the half to get closer and trailed 41-28 after Blyden Jr. hit a step-back jumper at the buzzer.

Down 50-39, the Bobcats scored seven straight to get close, beginning with a JJ Kelly 3-pointer. Hadaway added a basket and then Simmons blocked a shot and went coast-to-coast to finish at the rim, making it 50-46.

"I was just trying to tell everybody to stay with it when we got down 20 in the first half," Hadaway said. "When we started making runs and started getting the crowd into it, I feel like that's when we're at our best."

After a Sean Craig layup for the Rockets, Simmons scored two straight baskets to get Ohio to within two. The teams traded baskets twice after that before Mynor Strong’s 3-pointer started a 7-0 run for Toledo to go back up by nine.

Simmons converted a three-point play with 4:08 left to make it 67-61, but that was as close as it got the rest of the way.

Despite missing his first seven shots and not scoring until 3:45 left in the first half, Simmons went 9 of 20 from the field.

Although Ohio recovered from its 29.7% shooting in the first half to make 51.6% of its shots in the second half, it still finished below 40% for the game. Toledo saw its 56.3% shooting in the first half fall to 37.1% in the second half and finished at 46.3%.

As has been the case since an injury to Elijah Elliott, the Bobcats had little bench production with a total of only four points. Elliott has played one game since Jan. 3 but is reportedly close to returning.

Austin Parks had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds for Toledo.

Paveletzke, Hadaway, Sheldon, Jalen Breath and Dior Conners were honored before the game on senior day. Hadaway and Sheldon have spent their whole career with the Bobcats.

"We talked pregame about how it's very rare now that you're going to see two four-year seniors, and those guys have meant a lot for the program," Boals said.

As things stand, the Bobcats and Rockets would meet again in the quarterfinals in the MAC Tournament as a 4-5 matchup.

Ohio travels to UMass, which is fighting for one of the final spots in the tournament, for a game at 7 p.m. Tuesday before it closes the season out with unbeaten Miami at 9 p.m. Friday at The Convo.