ATHENS, Ohio – Six Ohio players scored in double figures as Ohio held off Valparaiso, 78-75, when Brandon Wood's desperation 3-pointer was short of the basket at the buzzer Tuesday night at The Convo.

Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth second half, after each team had huge runs in the first 20 minutes.

DeVaughn Washington’s 14 points led the Bobcats, and D.J. Cooper, who hit key free throws down the stretch, had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.

Valparaiso’s Ryan Broekhoff led all scores with 24 points, and the Crusaders (2-2) also got 19 points from Cory Johnson and 17 points for Woods.

Tommy Freeman, who finished with 10 points, gave the Bobcats the lead for good at 73-70 with a 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining, and he also took a pair of offensive fouls down the stretch to help maintain the edge.

Ivo Baltic gave Ohio (3-1) a 74-72 advantage by making one of two free throws with 35 seconds left on the clock, and Wood missed a 3-pointer that could have given Valparaiso the lead.

Instead Cooper made a pair of foul shots with 12 seconds to go, and after an off-balance Johnson 3-pointer, Cooper made two more from the line to increase the Bobcats’ lead to three with 2.5 seconds on the clock.

Wood took the inbound pass from just inside half-court and took a few long dribbles to the 3-point line where he got off one last attempt to tie the game.

Asown Sayles connected on all three of his 3-point attempts to finish with a career-high 11 points, matching the output of Baltic, who had his second straight nine-rebound game. Reggie Keely scored 10 points.

After falling behind 3-2, Ohio scored 11 straight points to take a double-digit lead early in the game.

Ethan Jacobs hit a pair at the line for a 15-point Ohio advantage with 4:11 remaining in the half, but Valparaiso closed the half with a 16-0 run for a one-point halftime lead.

Ohio shot better from the field (49-41.2) but turned over the ball 17 times to only 11 times for the Crusaders. The Bobcats made 20 of 27 free throws, while their opponents were 11 of 14.

There were 16 lead changes, including 13 in the second half.

The Bobcats take on Kansas at 8 p.m. Friday as part of the Las Vegas Invitational.