ATHENS – Myles Tate and Appalachian State had a huge second half to run away from Ohio 72-59 in the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Conference Challenge on Saturday at The Convo.

The Bobcats (12-11) led 34-28 at halftime, but the Mountaineers (15-9) held a 44-25 advantage in the second half, taking the lead for good with 12:51 remaining and then taking control with a 13-0 run that did not end until 6:25 was left to play.

Myles scored 27 points and dished out seven assists.

AJ Brown led Ohio with 18 points and six rebounds, while Elijah Elliott had a career-high 14 points. Jackson Paveletzke contributed 12 points and six rebounds, and Shareef Mitchell scored 11 points.

The first half was tight, with Appalachian State taking the biggest lead to that point of 23-18 on a Jalil Beaubrun layup. Ohio answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead and eventually closed the half by scoring the last six points to go up by six.

The Bobcats held their final lead of 38-37 on a Brown layup with 16:08 left. Dior Conners answered with a 3-pointer, and from there, Ohio tied the score at 40, 42 and 44 before Appalachian State’s big run that began with a Luke Wilson free throw. Tate had eight points in the 13-point run.

From there, the Mountaineers maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

After shooting 53.9% in the first half, Ohio shot just 32.3% in the second half and was just 4 of 23 on 3-pointers altogether. Appalachian State finished at 48.1%, including 8 of 19 from long range.

After a strong return from injury, AJ Clayton was just 1-for-3 with two points in 29 minutes, but he did have a team-leading seven rebounds. Ajay Sheldon also struggled, going 0-for-5 on 3-pointers. Despite his 18 points, Brown was just 1 of 8 from long range.

Conners had 14 points, and Beaubrun 11 points for Appalachian State. CJ Huntley finished with seven points and nine rebounds.

The Bobcats take on Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Stroh Center.