ATHENS – Jaylin Hunter scored a career-high 25 points as Ohio knocked Akron out of a first-place tie in the Mid-American Conference standings with a 90-81 victory Friday night at The Convo.

Dwight Wilson II added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bobcats (14-11, 6-6 MAC). Miles Brown had 12 points. Elmore James and DeVon Baker also reached double figures with 11 points each.

That was enough to offset a 34-point night from Xavier Castaneda for the Zips (17-8, 9-3 MAC). Enrique Freeman added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Ohio used a 10-2 run early in the second half to go up by double digits 56-45 and then used a 12-0 run to make it 70-52 with 12:28 remaining. The Bobcats matched that margin on a Hunter steal and dunk making it 86-68 with 3:35 left.

Akron got as close as 88-81 on a Castaneda 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play.

The first half was close throughout until an AJ Brown 3-pointer put Ohio up for good at 37-34 and was the start of a 7-0 run. The Bobcats led 44-40 at halftime.

Ohio shot 48.4% in the game and was especially hot from long range, going 10 of 16. Akron made 50.8% of its shots, including 11 of 23 3-pointers.

The Bobcats host Buffalo at 7 p.m. Tuesday.