ATHENS – Ajay Sheldon missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as Toledo held off Ohio 86-83 on Tuesday night at The Convo.

The Bobcats (11-9, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) gave themselves a chance after trailing by six with 1:40 left. Shareef Mitchell’s three-point play made it a three-point game, but Sam Lewis answered with a layup for the Rockets (12-8, 6-2 MAC).

Mitchell drained a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, giving Ohio a shot to get the ball back with a chance to tie or win, but after Sonny Wilson rebounded his own miss, the Bobcats were forced to foul. Bryce Ford made two free throws with six seconds left, seemingly icing the game.

However, Jackson Paveletzke made a free throw, and then Ohio forced a turnover, giving them one final chance.

"That's the one thing we kept on talking about, just fighting to get the lead,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. “We had to get stops. I give (the Rockets) credit, they made a lot of tough shots, especially in the shot clock, and we didn't make one play enough, but I give them credit.”

Paveletzke and AJ Brown scored 22 points each to lead the Bobcats, while Mitchell finished with 12. Elmore James added 10 points.

Toledo jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but Ohio came back with the next 10 points in a row, capped by an Elijah Elliott fastbreak dunk. A Paveletzke 3-pointer gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of 16-11.

Down 31-30, the Rockets scored 10 points in a row to take control. They went up 45-35 and had a 47-39 advantage at halftime.

Ohio started the second half by scoring the first 10 points, taking a 49-47 lead on a Paveletzke 3-pointer, but Lewis answered with one for Toledo. The Bobcats again briefly took the lead at 62-61 with 11:46 left on a Sheldon layup. Wilson scored to put the Rockets back on top.

From there, Toledo held a lead between one and six points until the end.

Brown scored 19 of his career-high 22 points in the second half.

"I think in the first half I was sped up, I wasn't calm," Brown said. "Then in the second half, I just relaxed, got into myself and just tried to give my team the best chance to win that game.”

Wilson, Bryce Ford, Lewis and Seth Hubbard all scored 15 points to lead the Rockets. Javan Simmons and Isaiah Adams each had 10 points.

Toledo shot 53.1% for the game, compared to 44.9% for Ohio.

The Bobcats play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Miami.