ATHENS, Ohio – For the second straight game, Ohio contained its opponent’s go-to scorer, but this time, it did not produce a win.

Oakland center Keith Benson was held to 10 points and six rebounds in 19 foul-plagued minutes, but the Grizzlies put three other players in double figures to defeat the cold-shooting Bobcats, 78-66.

Ledrick Eackles had 18 points and six boards, Larry Wright scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Reggie Hamilton chipped in 14 points for Oakland, which built an 11-point halftime lead and never led by less than seven in the second half.

“We have the depth to do it,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “We have great players but it's still early in the season. We had a couple mishaps but all in all we came together and got the win.”

Tommy Freeman scored 22 points, while D.J. Cooper finished with 18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals, but also seven turnovers for Ohio, but the Bobcats (1-1) shot just 33.8 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent at the foul line.

“We started out shooting jump shot after jump shot and I thought he put us in a situation where we needed to be a little bit more aggressive than we were,” Ohio coach John Groce said.

A pair of T.J. Hall free throws with 14:26 remaining in the first half put Ohio on top 6-4 early, but Oakland (1-1) ripped off 18 straight points as the Bobcats went without scoring for nearly seven minutes.

“We started out 6-6 and from there on they went on a 14-0 run without us really responding,” Freeman said. “I think we got a little anxious and started pressing too much, making some uncharacteristic plays. I just think that once they hit us in the mouth we didn't respond very well to that, in the first half, especially.”

The Grizzlies maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the half and took a 35-24 advantage into the locker room.

Oakland had a scoring drought early in the second half, though, and Ohio took advantage, getting as close as 39-32 with 16:07 remaining.

Six straight Grizzlies points made it a 13-point game, and Oakland later added a 9-0 run for a 64-43 advantage with 6:51 to go in the game.

Freeman heated up down the stretch with four of his six 3-pointers in the final 2:39, but the Bobcats never got closer than nine points.

With Benson out for much of the game, Ohio managed 22 offensive rebounds, but often failed to convert with only nine second-chance points. Oakland had more turnovers, 17-14.

The Grizzlies connected on 27 of 35 free throw attempts, while the Bobcats were just 10 of 22 as the teams combined for 55 fouls.

“We're going to use this as a learning tool,” Groce said. “We'll take a look at the film tomorrow. They're a good basketball team that's going to win a lot of games. I knew we were going to find a lot out about our team tonight. In some respects, I don't like what I saw, but sometimes, especially with a young basketball team, you have to take a step or two backwards and get hit in the mouth to get guys' attention.”

Ohio hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Convo.