ATHENS, Ohio – An Orlando Williams 3-pointer with 29 seconds left in the third overtime proved to be the game-winner as Miami edged rival Ohio, 92-88, before 9,749 fans at The Convo on Sunday afternoon.

In a back-and-forth game with 12 lead changes, the Bobcats and RedHawks were even at the end of the first four periods, and a 50-32 rebounding disparity finally was too much for the Bobcats to overcome, even with turnovers in their favor, 20-11.

“My dream came true today,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “I was proud to play three overtimes with the Bobcats. I was proud they were on the other end of it. It was a battle. As bad as we needed to win, I wish I was still out there. How many guys came off the bench and contributed? This is Ohio and Miami. This league is going to get real good.”

D.J. Cooper led the way for Ohio (7-8, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) with 27 points and 11 assists in 52 minutes, but he was just 7 of 22 from the floor and missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it after they fell behind.

Tommy Freeman went 5 of 7 from 3-point range and finished with 17 points, but the player who hit the game-winning shot in last year’s rivalry matchup in Athens did not get a shot attempt off in the final 27 1/2 minutes despite being on the floor the entire time.

With fellow forwards Reggie Keey and DeVaughn Washington both fouling out, Ivo Baltic played a key role with 16 points and three steals, all of them in overtime.

Antonio Ballard had a career-high 27 points and grabbed a game-best 12 rebounds to lead the RedHawks (6-9, 1-0 MAC). Nick Winbush (19 points and nine rebounds) and Julian Mavunga (15 points and eight rebounds) also came close to double-doubles.

After scoring first, Miami led all of the final overtime until Baltic tied it with a jumper with 53 seconds remaining, but Williams, who had made just 1 of 7 from beyond the arc up to that point, filled up the net from the corner with Asown Sayles flying at him for an 88-85 lead.

Cooper missed a deep pull-up 3-point try, and Ohio was forced to foul with 10 seconds left.

“It’s kind of like a feel thing,” Cooper said. “I hit one in the first overtime and I just felt like I was going to hit that one too. I should have driven to the hole and tried to get a foul.”

Ballard connected on both attempts from the line, before Nick Kellogg swished a corner 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two with five seconds remaining.

Mavunga was fouled with 3.8 seconds showing on the clock and missed both attempts, but with four Ohio players and Mavunga as the only players in the lane to rebound, Mavunga came up with Miami’s 20th offensive rebound of the game and sealed the game by making two free throws with 3.0 seconds left.

“I’d like to take a look at the film on that one because we’ve been a great rebounding ball club all year,” Ohio coach John Groce said. “How many of those 20 offensive rebounds — and certainly we don’t have any excuses — were when we had discombobulated lineups and had four guards? … I thought there were key loose balls, rebounds, 50-50 plays in the overtime where we didn’t snatch the ball and they did. I thought those were big plays. I thought those were big, big plays.”

Miami had the final possession at the end of every period, missing a 3-pointer each time until Williams’ game-winner. Ohio forced a miss at the end of the second overtime, only to allow Ballard an offensive rebound, but saved itself by knocking the ball away.

Ohio also played from behind in the final minutes of all three overtimes and the second half.

Cooper hit two free throws with 49 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 65 and both teams had turnovers before Mavunga missed at the buzzer.

Cooper’s 3-pointer with 39 seconds tied the game at 73 in the first overtime, and Mavunga missed again, this time at the shot clock buzzer.

Baltic’s three-point play with 1:46 on the clock accounted for the final points of the second overtime. Cooper missed a pair of free throws with 1:12 remaining, and after a Sayles offensive rebound, Cooper missed a jumper that could have put the Bobcats ahead.

The Bobcats rallied from down eight early in the second half, tying the game on a Cooper trey with 9:33 to go, taking the lead on a Washington dunk and then taking their biggest lead of the half at 58-54 on two Baltic free throws with 7:48 remaining.

Winbush hit a 3-pointer at the 4:27 mark to give the RedHawks a three-point lead, but T.J. Hall answered two and a half minutes later with a game-tying shot. Mavunga had a layup before Cooper’s free throws that were the final points of regulation.

Miami held an early 9-2 lead, but Ohio later led by as many as seven in the first half, 29-22, before the RedHawks rallied to tie at 33 going into the locker room.

“I thought it was a really hard-fought basketball game between two teams that are trying to find their way here early in the MAC schedule,” Groce said. “I was really proud of our guys’ effort. … I thought we were really locked in and had a very much no-excuses attitude because we had lineups in the game late for several minutes, maybe close to the last 20 minutes, where we had guys playing positions that they hadn’t played all year. They didn’t have any excuses and really battled, and I thought that’s something certainly we can build on for sure for moving forward.”

Shooting numbers were similar with Ohio at 43.8 percent and Miami at 42.4 percent. Miami was 25 of 33 at the foul line, while Ohio was 21 of 26 and a perfect 15 of 15 until its first miss in the second overtime.

Keely and Washington both fouled out late in the second half, while Hall picked up his fifth foul early in the second overtime. Winbush was the only Miami player to foul out, exiting late in the second extra period.

Ohio hits the road for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday at Akron.