CLEVELAND – Ohio rallied to within two points in the final minutes, but Kent State held on for its 14th straight victory 67-61 in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Bobcats trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half before making a run that came up short.

In what could have been his last game for Ohio, Ben Vander Plas had 20 points and six rebounds, while Mark Sears scored 18 points with six rebounds. Jason Carte...

CLEVELAND – Ohio’s struggling offense came to life with a huge second-half run in a 77-67 victory against Ball State in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference basketball tournament Thursday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Leading by just four with less than 10 minutes remaining, the No. 3 seed Bobcats (24-8) scored 17 straight points to run away from the No. 6 seed Cardinals (14-17) and snap their three-game losing streak.

Mark Sears scored 24 points with 10 rebounds and fiv...

DeKALB, Ill. – A Mark Sears 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer, and Northern Illinois handed Ohio its third loss in a row to end the regular season, 58-57, on Friday night at the Convocation Center in DeKalb.

Jason Carter stripped Adong Makoui with less than 10 seconds remaining, giving the Bobcats a chance to win. Sears opted for a step-back 3-pointer and got an open look, but the ball went around the rim and off.

Sears nearly posted a double-double in the loss, finishing with 19 points,...

BOWLING GREEN – A late rally came up short, and Ohio dropped a second game in a row for the first time this season, losing 80-77 to Bowling Green on Saturday at the Stroh Center.

Mark Sears missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with about six seconds remaining after the Bobcats were down nine with less than 40 seconds remaining. They also trailed by 13 with less than seven minutes to go.

Ben Vander Plas scored 25 points and eight rebounds, while Mark Sears scored 22 points with 13 reboun...

ATHENS – Another slow start doomed Ohio in a 91-83 loss to Akron on Friday night at The Convo.

The Bobcats fell behind 46-26 at halftime, with only a late push making the final score as close as it was.

Mark Sears led Ohio (23-6, 14-4 Mid-American Conference) with 20 points, even rebounds and seven assists. Ben Vander Plas and Jason Carter scored 17 points each, and Tommy Schmock finished with 14 points in the final home game of the season.

“Wish we could have sent those guys out with a...

ATHENS – Ben Vander Plas had the fourth triple-double in the history of the men’s basketball program as Ohio bounced back from a blowout loss to Kent State with a dominant 76-50 victory against Central Michigan on Tuesday night at The Convo.

With the man responsible for two of those previous triple-doubles in attendance, Vander Plas finished with an even 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Jason Preston was in attendance while his Los Angeles Clippers team is on All-Star break.

"I mean...

KENT – Ohio’s offense went ice cold against the hottest team in the Mid-American Conference, with Kent State dominating early in a 75-52 victory Friday night at the MAC Center.

The Bobcats went without making a field goal for more than 10 minutes to start the game, and the Golden Flashes built a 45-15 halftime lead to cruise to their eighth straight victory.

Ohio (22-5, 13-3 MAC) missed its first 13 shots from the field before a short jumper by Ben Roderick with 9:08 remaining. Nine of tho...

ATHENS – Ben Vander Plas scored a career-high 30 points to lead Ohio to a 91-78 victory against Miami on Tuesday night at The Convo.

After sitting out the second half of Saturday’s game with an ankle injury, Vander Plas went 9 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and made 9 of 10 free throws. He added 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block.

Mark Sears also had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds in addition to six assists, and Tommy Schmock had...

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Ohio dominated the second half to erase a second-half road deficit for the second straight game, beating Eastern Michigan 74-56 on Saturday at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

The Eagles (8-16, 3-10 Mid-American Conference) led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held a 33-25 advantage at the break, but the Bobcats (8-16, 3-10 MAC) outscored them 49-23 after halftime.

Mark Sears led the way with 27 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Miles...

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Ben Vander Plas and Mark Sears combined for 46 points to help Ohio bounce back from a loss two nights before with an 81-72 victory against Central Michigan on Thursday night at McGuirk Arena.

Vander Plas scored 24 points with six assists, while Sears had 22 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Bobcats (20-4, 11-2 Mid-American Conference) overcame a sloppy first half. Tommy Schmock had his second straight strong showing, finishing with 16 points.

Freshman Ke...