ATHENS – Rahlir Jefferson and Khalif Wyatt came off the bench to score career-highs of 18 and 14 points, respectively, to combine with starter Ramone Moore’s 17 points as Temple took a 76-65 victory against Ohio at The Convo on Wednesday night.

DeVaughn Washington scored a season-high 20 points to lead Ohio. D.J. Cooper finished with 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while Ivo Baltic scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards.

Temple (9-2) built a lead late in the first half and maintained it throughout the second half.

"We've got to find a way to fix some things, and I think when we do we'll be a lot more consistent with our play," Ohio coach John Groce said. "We still have some time before MAC play starts. We've got two very important home games when these guys get back from the break. It's good for them to get away for a few days too, to rest their bodies a little and get their minds right. We'll get back from the holidays, attack this thing and keep getting better.

A pair of Washington free throws gave Ohio (6-6) a 17-16 advantage with 12:34 remaining in the first half, but a jumper by Scottie Randall put the Owls on top for good.

Jefferson scored a three-point play, and Randall hit another jumper to cap off a 7-0 run.

Later, Cooper assisted on a Washington layup to cut Ohio’s deficit to one with 7:10 remaining, and the Bobcats had a chance to take the lead, but Ricardo Johnson missed a 3-pointer and Wyatt connected on one. Moore followed with a layup that pushed the lead to 31-25.

After Cooper hit a pair of foul shots, the Owls rattled off seven points in a row to build a 38-27 advantage with 4:29 left in the half. In all, Temple went on a 12-2 run.

Reggie Keely’s free throw helped the Bobcats get to within seven at halftime, but six straight Owls points put them in control by a game-high 13 points.

A Cooper layup capped off Ohio’s biggest run, an 8-0 spurt that drew it to within five with 15:30 remaining, but Temple pushed its lead back to 13 at 61-48 with 9:06 to go in the game.

The Bobcats’ final push followed with a 7-0 run to get as close as six points, but the Owls maintained control down the stretch.

Juan Fernandez was just 3 of 12 for the Owls, but dished out a career-high nine assists and had four steals.

Wyatt was 4 of 5 from deep, and Temple finished 8 of 19 from beyond the arc and 30 of 60 overall from the field. But they made just 8 of 17 free throws.

Ohio had an average shooting night, making 25 of 61 shots, but was not on target beyond the arc, going 3 of 15. It made 12 of 16 free throws.

"We just need to step up and make some more shots," Cooper said. "All of the perimeter (players) need to step up, hit some shots and be confident. That will make it easier for the bigs to finish around the basket and get easier buckets."

The Bobcats host Norfolk State at 7 p.m. next Thursday.