ATHENS – Ohio locked down Ball State in the first half to build a big lead on the way to a 69-57 victory against Ball State on Tuesday night at The Convo.

The Bobcats led 32-15 at halftime, holding the Cardinals to 25.9% shooting to that point. The Cardinals bounced back to shoot 55.6% in the second half and got as close as seven, but it was not nearly enough.

Jackson Paveletzke and Aidan Hadaway led Ohio (14-13, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) on the offensive end with 18 points each. Hadaway had a team-leading eight rebounds and Paveletke six assists. Ajay Sheldon added 12 points on 3-of-7 3-point shooting.

"We had two really good days of prep coming into this game, and we knew they were going to play hard and compete for 40 minutes," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "The last couple of games, I think they've taken Buffalo and Kent State down to the wire. So, give our guys credit. We didn't start the second half ideally, but we bent, and we didn't break."

Devon Barnes scored 17 points, with Davion Hill adding 16 points for Ball State (8-18, 3-10 MAC).

The Cardinals actually took a 13-9 lead with 8:45 left in the first half but were outscored 23-2 the rest of the half, including a 21-0 run that finally ended when Hill tipped in a miss with just 32 seconds left. That snapped a string of nine straight missed shots.

Paveletzke answered with a layup before the buzzer to make it a 17-point game again.

Ball State scored the first nine points of the second half to cut its deficit to single digits and got as close as seven on Hill free throws with 9:31 to go. Sheldon answered with a big 3-pointer, and the Cardinals got no closer the rest of the night.

Ohio shot 42.3% for the game and made 17 of 21 free throws.

"I try and just attack, trying to find ways to get to the line," Paveletzke said. "That's usually a way to get two free points, but the shots weren't falling for a majority of the game for me, but I was just still trying to stay aggressive and take what the defense gives."

Javan Simmons had nine points and five rebounds, and JJ Kelly finished with seven points and six rebounds for Ohio.

The Bobcats hit the road to face Northern Illinois at 3 p.m. Saturday.