ATHENS, OHIO - Fast starts and outworking the other guy is the key to pulling off upsets on the road. The North Carolina A&T men's basketball had neither happen for it on Tuesday night.

Ohio took a double-digit lead early on the Aggies and withstood a second-half Aggies run to win 93-82 at the Convocation Center. Sophomore Nic Simpson led the Aggies with 22 points. He has scored more than 20 points in two of the Aggies three games this season. Freshman DaMetrius Upchurch came off the bench to contribute 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

Ohio's Jay Kinney came off the bench to score a game-high 23 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.

"In the first half they handed it to us,'' said North Carolina A&T head coach Jerry Eaves. "Our issue right now with mixing our youth in with some our veterans is the ability to play hard on the road. It is a skill that must be acquired and we're going to have to go through a process before they get it."

Kinney hit three 3-pointers during a 13-1 run Bobcats run that gave them a 26-10 lead at the 11:41 mark of the first half. By halftime, the Bobcats had their lead up to 18 at 48-30.

The Aggies didn't make things easy for Ohio in the second half. The Bobcats would build their lead to as much as 24 in the second half before 3-point shooting got the Aggies back in the game. A 14-0 Aggies run was ignited by the strong play of Upchurch. He went 6-for-6 from the free throw line during the run, and Simpson capped it off with a 3-pointer to cut the Bobcats lead to 58-48 with 14:37 to play.

The Bobcats answered the Aggies onslaught with two 3-pointers sandwiched between a Thomas Coleman layup. Despite making the game tighter, the Aggies were not able to get Ohio's lead under 10 the entire second half.

"(Ohio) is a young team, but they hit big threes and made game-winning plays when we got back in the ball game,'' said Eaves. "In the second half my team showed that they have the ability - if they ever play hard for 40 minutes - to be a very good team. But you can't spot teams 18-point leads at halftime and expect to be successful."

The Aggies return home to play Davis & Elkins 7 p.m., Friday at Corbett Sports Center.