ATHENS – D.J. Cooper had a chance to force a second overtime but missed the second of two free throws with three seconds left and Robert Morris hit a pair of free throws to seal a 79-76 victory at The Convo on Sunday afternoon.

Karon Abraham scored a career-high 28 points for the Colonials, and three other Robert Morris players scored in double-digits to help their team rally from a 12-point second-half deficit.

Tommy Freeman hit five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points to lead Ohio. Nick Kellogg scored 14 points, Cooper scored 13 points and Ivo Baltic had 10 points for the Bobcats (7-7).

Ohio led by as many as 13 points in the first half on a Freeman 3-pointer with 2:05 remaining.

“We did a great job early,” Ohio coach John Groce said. “I thought D.J. did a great job of pushing the pace; our bigs were running; Nick and T.J. to start the game were out running; we got a lot of advance-pass threes that I thought were quality looks for us. We got the ball inside and they started coming hard.”

But Robert Morris (5-8) scored the final nine points of the half to draw to within 34-30.

Scoring the first even points of the second half, the Bobcats went back up 12 on another Freeman 3-pointer, but the Colonials rallied with 12 points in a row to quickly tie the game at 42 with 11:21 remaining in regulation.

Freeman continued to hit big shots, with a trey putting Ohio on top by eight, but Abraham gave Robert Morris is first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 6:06 to go.

It was part of another big Robert Morris run – a 16-3 spurt that put it ahead 63-56 with 3:57 left.

Ohio, though, scored 10 of the next 11 points, taking the lead on a pair of DeVaugn Washington free throws with 28 seconds left.

Russell Johnson’s layup tied the game with 15 seconds to go, and Kellogg missed a 3-pointer with six seconds left, forcing overtime.

The Colonials scored the opening basket of the extra session and never trailed after that. A pair of Abraham free throws with 27 seconds remaining put them on top 76-72, but Kellogg hit a 3-pointer from the wing to draw the Bobcats to within one only five seconds later.

Forced to foul, the Bobcats sent Gary Wallace to the line, and he made only one, giving Ohio a chance to tie or take the lead. But Cooper’s second free throw try rimmed in and out and Wallace hit two free throws with two seconds left.

The Bobcats did not score a fast break point and shot just 38.2 percent in the game, including 31.6 percent in the second half. Ohio also was just 61.8 percent at the foul line, including 3 of 8 in overtime.

“It came down to them shooting, quite honestly, shooting 78 percent from the free throw line on 23 attempts and us shooting between 60 and 61 percent on 34 attempts,” Groce said. “Normally, when you’re plus eleven from the free throw line you like your chances. We just left some points at the line a little bit today and I thought that was the difference. They made a few more plays — in particular there — than we did.”

Robert Morris made 18 of 23 free throws, including 11 of 13 in overtime, and connected on 41.0 percent of its field goal attempts.

Cooper struggled, making just 2 of 10 field goal tries and 8 of 16 free throw attempts. He also had five turnovers with eight assists.

Coron Williams finished 14 points for the Colonials, and Wallace had 13, both coming off the bench.

Ohio finished non-conference play with a .500 record, but Groce said the Bobcats are well-prepared for the opening of Mid-American Conference play.

“We’ve played a rigorous schedule that I like, that I think will hopefully allow us to learn from it and make us better as we start conference play next weekend,” he said. “I think the biggest thing right now is we’re not going to lose our minds over a hard-fought loss. We’re going to stay the course and see if we can get a little bit better this week heading into next Sunday’s MAC opener against Miami.”

The Bobcats host the RedHawks at 2 p.m. Sunday.