HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – DeAndre Kane missed a potential game-tying shot and Ohio held on to defeat Marshall, 70-68, on Wednesday night at the Cam Henderson Center.

The Thundering Herd rallied back from a 14-point second-half deficit and could have tied it after gaining possession with less than 9 seconds remaining after an Ohio turnover. Kane, who led all scorers with 17 points, worked one-on-one against Walter Offutt and put up a turnaround shot in the post off the backboard and off the rim.

Reggie Keely paced the Bobcats with 16 points and added five rebounds, Offutt had 13 points and five boards and Ivo Baltic was just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. D.J. Cooper did post a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists to go with four steals.

Ohio (4-1) never trailed and went up 63-49 on Stevie Taylor’s steal and layup with 7:35 remaining. Its lead remained in double digits until Shaquille Layup converted a three-point play after a steal with 3:46 to go, making it a 67-59 game.

That was part of a run of seven straight Marshall points, with Jamir Hanner’s layup making the score 67-63 at the 2:08 mark.

Marshall committed consecutive turnovers, though, and when Cooper hit a pair of shots at the free throw line with 32 seconds to go, Ohio seemed to be in good shape with a six-point advantage.

Kane, though, answers with a quick 3-pointer, and after Cooper made one shot at the foul line, Damier Pitts made it a two-point game with 15 seconds left with two free throws. After getting in the inbounds pass, Cooper lost the ball out of bounds to give Marshall a chance to tie or win.

Dennis Tinnon scored 12 points and grabbed 14 boards for the Thundering Herd. Robert Goff scored 11 points, while Pitts finished with 10 points and seven assists.

Ultimately, Marshall failed to take advantage of its free throw opportunities, making just 21 of 38 (55.3 percent) attempts. Ohio was 7 of 11 (63.6 percent).

The Bobcats led by nine at the break and the lead was not less than seven until the final three minutes.

Ohio got its first-half separation after the game was tied at 11 by scoring seven straight points with a Ricardo Johnson trey sandwiched between a pair of Keely layups. Later, Johnson connected on another triple for a 32-19 advantage.

Pitts made a couple of free throws with 12:05 to go in the game, cutting Marshall’s deficit to 47-40, but Offutt completed a three-point play, went up 13 on a Nick Kellogg 3-pointer at the 10:06 mark.

Marshall, which had dominated its opponents on the boards coming into the game, out-rebounded Ohio by just a 36-35 advantage that included an 18-16 edge in offensive boards. Both teams committed 13 turnovers, with nine of the Thundering Herd’s coming before the half and nine of the Bobcats’ coming after the break.

Ohio had its best shooting game of the year at 50 percent (29 of 58). Marshall was 21 of 52 (40.4 percent).

The Thundering Herd had a 20-6 second-chance points advantage, but the Bobcats had an 18-9 edge in points off turnovers. Ohio fouled 26 times to 18 by Marshall. Offutt, Keely, Kellogg and Jon Smith all finished with four fouls.

Next up for Ohio is a 2 p.m. home game Saturday against Morgan State.