ATHENS – AJ Clayton scored 20 points to lead Ohio to a 75-66 victory against Miami in the Battle of the Bricks on Saturday at The Convo.

Vic Searls added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Elmore James scored 12 points, both of them off the bench, to help the Bobcats take over sole possession of third place in the Mid-American Conference standings. Shareef Mitchell also reached double figures with 11 points and added four steals.

"It was awesome to see Clayton show out today, and he was a huge part of our success," Ohio coach Jeff Boals. "He played confident."

Antwone Woolfolk paced the second-place RedHawks (21-8, 12-4 MAC) with 16 points, while Peter Suder had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Miami jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead, but Ohio (16-13, 10-6 MAC) scored the next seven points to get close. The game went back and forth throughout he middle of the first half before the Bobcats went on a 9-0 run, moving in front 31-23 on a Searls layup at the 6:03 mark.

An Elijah Elliott 3-pointer made it 40-30, and Ohio eventually settled for a seven-point lead at halftime.

The margin remained between seven and 12 points until an Eian Elmer jumper made it 54-49 with 13:38 left. A Clayton layup capped a 6-0 run to put Ohio ahead 62-51 with 8:56 to go, but Miami answered back again, cutting it to 64-59 on a Mekhi Cooper 3-pointer with 6:46 remaining.

A minute later, Suder drained a trey that got the RedHawks to within four, and it was a four-point game again at 70-66 on a Kam Craft jumper with 3:15 to play. James answered with a jumper, and Miami did not score again.

"It means a lot to me to be able to win this rival game," Searls said. "To come out and finally show what I can do was really important."

AJ Brown had eight points in only eight minutes but left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return. Elliott had seven points and five rebounds. Those contributions helped make up for an off day for Jackson Paveletzke, who scored only four points on 2-of-9 shooting, through he did have five assists.

Kraft scored 12 points, with Elmer adding 10 points and six rebounds for the RedHawks.

Ohio shot 50.8% for the game, including 38.9% (7 of 18) on 3-pointers, and went 8 of 14 at the foul line. Miami shot 42.6% overall, making 8 of 27 3-pointers (27.6%), and was 6 of 10 on free throws. It also committed 17 turnovers.

Losses by Toledo and Kent State this weekend give Ohio sole possession of third place in the MAC with two games remaining before the tournament. The Rockets and Golden Flashes are just a game ahead of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.

The Bobcats host their final home game when Eastern Michigan visits at 7 p.m. Tuesday.