ATHENS – Despite stretches of underwhelming play, Ohio proved to be too much for Ohio Wesleyan in an 89-56 victory Tuesday night at The Convo.

The Bobcats (5-6) jumped out to a 26-7 lead in the first 10 minutes, let the NCAA Division III Battling Bishops (3-6) get back to as close as six and then pulled away in the second half.

Aidan Hadaway led Ohio with 19 points and seven rebounds, with Kiir Kuany scoring a career high 17 points. JJ Kelly added 14 points, and Javan Simmons had 12 points and five rebounds.

Isaac Ward paced Ohio Wesleyan with 13 points, with Peyton Frey adding 12 points and eight rebounds.

Ohio did what was expected of it at the start, scoring the first seven points and then going up 14-2 following a Hadaway putback. The lead ballooned to 19 points on an Elliott jumper with 9:35 left in the first half.

With the Bobcats still leading 32-15, the Battling Bishops put together their best stretch of the night, going on an 11-0 run with a Jessee Battle 3-pointer making it 32-26 with 4:44 to go before halftime.

It was 37-31 on a Ward 3-pointer a short time later before Ohio scored the next six points before halftime to move in front by 12. Including the first seven points of the second half, the Bobcats scored 13 straight to go up 50-31.

Kuany capped an 11-0 run only a few minutes later to put Ohio up 64-36. Ohio Wesleyan go back to within 20 with eight minutes left when the Bobcats truly put the game away with eight points in a row, going up 79-51 on a Kuany layup with 6:08 left.

Ohio shot 58.1% in the game, including 67.9% in the second half, despite going just 4 of 16 on 3-pointers and made 13 of 20 free throws. Ohio Wesleyan finished at 30.6% on field goals, making just 24.1% after halftime. The Bobcats had a massive 62-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Jackson Paveletezke had a season low two points on just 1-of-2 shooting but had a season best nine assists. Ajay Sheldon had five assists to go with his two points.

While the game counted toward Ohio’s record and was its fourth straight win following a five-game losing streak, it was an exhibition for Ohio Wesleyan.

Ohio gets its first taste of Mid-American Conference play when it hosts Bowling Green at 4 p.m. Saturday.