Home-court advantage is proving to be a disadvantage for the Ohio Bobcats.

Toledo used a hanging 12-foot jumper by sophomore guard Terry Reynolds with 23 seconds left to beat Ohio 69-68 and break a 19-game, 21-year-old futility steak in the Convo. The last time Toledo won in Athens, it was 1981. The Bobcats fell for the second consecutive game on their home court.

Missing one of its top three scorers and not getting the usual punch from its other two, Ohio still managed to come back from a big second-half deficit and take a 68-67 lead on two Jaivon Harris free throws with 43 seconds left. Reynolds, however, hit his clutch shot for the go-ahead score and Ohio misfired on three opportunities as time expired. It is the third time this season that Ohio has given up a go-ahead score at the Convo in the final minute and failed to respond for a win.

Ohio Coach Tim O'Shea, obviously frustrated with what he saw tonight on the Convo floor, said Ohio's team effort was lacking in the contest, as the Bobcats were outhustled on both ends of the court and made errors at critical times. The loss had O'Shea second-guessing himself, and he said he'll be spending plenty of time over the next two days figuring out what went wrong.

For example, Ohio hit 70 percent (19 of 27) of its free throws during the game, but missed key freebies at the end of each half, including four in the last few minutes of the game. The Cats also turned the ball over at several inopportune times.

"I'm extremely disappointed," said O'Shea. "It's as difficult as a loss as I've experienced as a head coach. This is going to eat at me for the next day or so. I love my job most of the time, but I'm going to be the most miserable man in Athens County for the next 48 hours."

With the Mid-American Conference tournament on the horizon, Ohio drops to 10-7 in the MAC and 16-10 overall. Surging Toledo improves to 10-7 in the MAC (13-13 overall) and has passed the Bobcats in the seeding order unless Ohio beats BG Saturday and Toledo loses to last-place Eastern Michigan. Western Michigan and Miami are at 9-8 and nipping on Ohio's heels.

Terry Reynolds hit the game winner on the Convo floor. (Rollie Merriman photo)

Ohio will host a first-round game in the Mid-American Conference tourney. Who they will play, however, is still very much up for grabs. O'Shea said the tournament is far from his mind right now, though, and he just wants him team to play harder.

"We need to bring a certain attitude to the floor and make things happen in our favor," he said.

Toledo took advantage of a five-minute scoring drought for Ohio, and burst to a 52-39 lead before Ohio made a late charge. Ohio was missing the services of third-leading scorer Sonny Johnson, who is out with a knee injury. Bobcat forwards Steve Esterkamp and Brandon Hunter, who normally contribute 35 points a game for Ohio, were held to 20 tonight with 11 and 9 points respectively. Patrick Flomo (20 points) and James Bridgewater (13 points) picked up the scoring slack for the Bobcats.

Nick Moore scored 20 points, including five three-pointers, to pace Toledo. Reynolds added 16 points.