ATHENS – Ohio took the lead in the first half and was in control throughout the second half, handing Akron its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season 84-67 on Saturday evening at The Convo.

Already leading by 14 points, the Bobcats began the second half with an 11-2 run, and the Zips never got closer than 18 until the final 3:15.

Jackson Paveletzke led the way with 21 points, AJ Clayton added 18 points and eight rebounds, and AJ Brown finished with 16 points for Ohio (15-12, 9-5 MAC).

Amani Lyles had 17 points for the Zips (21-6, 13-1 MAC).

"The one thing we talked about was they're come out and do something different, play zone, up their pressure, offensive rebound more, transition harder, and we had to weather the storm that they were going to give us," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said.

Ohio scored the game’s first five points on a Clayton dunk and an Elijah Elliott 3-pointer. Akron came back with six straight points to take its only lead of the game, but a Vic Searls layup put the Bobcats ahead for good. Elmore James scored the next five points after that to cap a quick 7-0 run.

A Tavari Johnson layup got the Zips back to within two at 14-12. The Bobcats answered with nine straight points, beginning with three Clayton free throws, to go up double digits. Shareef Mitchell scored back-to-back baskets – his only points of the night – before a Paveletzke jumper made it 23-12.

A James tip-in gave Ohio its biggest lead of the first half at 41-25, and it took a 43-29 lead into the second half. The big run to start the second half was capped by consecutive baskets by Brown that made it 54-31.

Clayton drained a 3-pointer with 6:55 left to give Ohio its biggest lead of 75-48.

Elliott scored nine points and had five rebounds and five assists, while James finished with seven points and five rebounds. Mitchell’s struggles did not matter. He was just 2-for-9 and fouled out in 18 minutes of playing time.

Johnson and Seth Wilson both scored 12 points, while Sharron Young had 10 points for Akron. It was Akron’s lowest scoring game of the season.

"I think our defense came out super strong tonight, and we just set the tone from the beginning," Paveletzke said.

Ohio won the turnover battle 14-7.

With the win, the Bobcats moved into a tie for third place with Toledo, one game ahead of Kent State and two back of second-place Miami with four games to go.

“This is a huge one,” Clayton said. “Every team, every coach has said the MAC is wide open every single game, every single night, for every single team. It was a very competitive game.”

A trip to Western Michigan is next at 7 p.m. Tuesday.