ATHENS, Ohio – Thomas Stephens established new career highs for points with 23 and assists with nine and Steve Esterkamp hit several key three-pointers en route to 24 points as Ohio defeated St. Bonaventure in a a fast-paced 104-101 New Year's Eve thriller Tuesday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

The Bobcats (3-5) had trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half before rallying from 10 points down in the second half for the victory. The Bonnies, meanwhile, had a three-game winning streak snapped, falling to 5-6.

Brandon Hunter posted his sixth double-double in eight games with 18 points and a career-high 24 rebounds, while Sonny Johnson and Jeff Halbert chipped in 17 and 11 points, respectively. St. Bonaventure's Marques Green led all scorers with a career-best 35 (seven three-pointers), while adding eight assists.

The offensive effort established several season highs for the Bobcats including points for each half and overall (50-54=104), three-pointers made and attempted (16-of-31), rebounds (44), assists (23) and, ironically, turnovers (22). The 56.1 shooting percentage (37-66) was also a season-high.

Convocation Center records were set for three-pointers by the Bobcats (16), rebounds by a Bobcat (Brandon Hunter/24) and three-point attempts (33 by St. Bonaventure).

Postgame quotes from Ohio head coach Tim O’Shea:

“To go through the non-conference schedule we’ve had to date with a lack of success, we were desperate for a positive-momentum win… something to build some confidence on. We beat a very, very fine St. Bonaventure team. You know what they did to Toledo and Kent State. They played Alabama to the wire at Alabama. That is a terrific basketball team and it was a great day to find our shooting touch again.

(on playing St. Bonaventure) You have to space the floor, you have to attack gaps and you have to take open shots when they appear. If you try to run sets and slow the tempo down, you get killed because all they do is continue to trap the ball and force turnovers.

I thought Jeff Halbert – for a freshman – played great. He came in and he really seized the floor. He’s a smart player. I think Stephen King showed you why he was player of the year in the state of Minnesota.

(on a career-high 23 points by Thomas Stephens) I made the decision a few games ago that Thomas Stephens was our point guard. I knew he had the most potential at that position and he’s blossomed. I think I’ve shown confidence in him and it’s helped him grow as a player. I think we have a point guard now… a first-line point guard for conference play.

That’s one of the real positives of our tough non-conference schedule. We got exposed early and as a coach, you’re always searching for the best lineup. If you beat a bunch of turkeys early, you’re kind of complacent. But by the adversity we’ve gone through, we’ve really had to closely examine our team. We discovered, in time for conference play, that Thomas Stephens is indeed our point guard.

(on Brandon Hunter’s 18-point, 24-rebound performance) Brandon played so under control tonight. He passed the ball to the post guys and knocked down shots. I really liked our composure. Nobody got flustered out there tonight. I think early on we were down double digits – they blitzed us early – we kept our composure and came back. I thought Stephen King gave us a huge lift hitting those two three-point shots. Jeff Halbert, when we were struggling, was knocking down three-point shots. I’m really so pleased with the play of our freshman. I like our rotation right now. We’re down to playing eight or nine guys and I think the future is bright for us, especially when we get into conference play. Obviously Kentucky is going to be a tremendous challenge. We go into that game with confidence now and I take that attitude that it should be a lot of fun for our guys as we get ready to open with Akron next week.

(on the first-half barrage by the Bonnies) They’re like that. That’s not an aberration for the team. That’s how well they shoot the ball. They’re a tremendously dangerous team. They’ve been so close to beating some top teams. They had Boston College in overtime. They had them beat but it slipped away from them. And they’ve played all their tough games on the road. I think when they get in the Atlantic 10, they’re going to be a real factor along with Xavier.

(on the 35-point performance by St. Bonaventure’s Marques Green) We were really focusing on Marques Green. Up front – if you saw our zone – we were basically shading him back to the other guard, basically two-timing him – double-teaming him – out front and trying to make other people beat us. What a great little player he is. One of his threes at the end was out by the state of Ohio (floor mark) here, about a 35-footer. What are you going to do? Certainly you can tell by the tone of my voice I’m thrilled that we won but what an entertaining game for any fan of college basketball.

(on preparing for Saturday’s Kentucky game in Cincinnati) A loss would have taken a lot out of us. A win gives us some confidence. You start to doubt yourself when you’re losing and you can’t put any points on the board and nobody can make a shot. Practice will be great tomorrow. Guys are going to come in feeling great. We’ll do a lot more shooting. That’s really what we’ve done the last two days of practice. We’ve spent almost an hour just shooting that basketball to see if we could get our touch back.”