DeKALB, Ill. – Ohio opened the second half with a 12-1 run and pulled away from last-place Northern Illinois for its fifth straight victory, 67-58, before a crowd of just 784 people at The Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill., on Wednesday night.

Walter Offutt paced the Bobcats (18-4, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) with 19 points, making 9 of 9 free throws. Reggie Keely added 13 points and Nick Kellogg connected on 3 of 4 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.

Antone Christian scored 15 points and Abdel Nader tallied 12 points to lead the Huskies (2-18, 1-7 MAC).

The Bobcats trailed most of the first half but took a 27-26 lead to the locker room with a Keely free throw.

After the break, Ohio came out on fire, sparked with back-to-back Kellogg 3-pointers with a Northern Illinois free throw in between. Ricardo Johnson, Stevie Taylor and Keely followed with baskets to put the Bobcats on top, 39-27.

Marquavese Ford got the Huskies’ first field goal of the second half with 13:34 remaining, but the Bobcats maintained a double digit lead until the final minute. Northern Illinois made only one of its first 12 shots of the second half.

Keely had a steal that led to two free throws with 6:11 to go, giving Ohio its biggest lead, 58-38.

The Huskies followed with 10 straight points, capped with a Christian 3-pointer with 2:59 left, before Offutt ended the run my making two shots at the foul line. Northern Illinois got only as close as eight in the final minute.

Northern Illinois got back-to-back 3-pointers from Askel Bolin and Christian early in the game for an 8-3 advantage and it had its biggest lead, 12-5, on a Nader free throw at the 11:51 mark.

Ohio’s offense finally came to life with a Taylor 3-pointer and the Bobcats tied the game at 15 on Ivo Baltic free throw. Taylor’s trey at the 6:41 mark gave Ohio a 21-20 lead and the Bobcats held their biggest lead of the first half, 25-22, on an Offutt free throw with 3:22 remaining.

The Bobcats held the Huskies to just 37.7 percent shooting while connecting on 45.5 percent of their own shots, including 7 of 17 from beyond the arc. Ohio also had an advantage at the free throw line by making 20 of 26 attempts, compared to just 12 of 19 by Northern Illinois.

After shooting just 38.1 percent in the first half, the Bobcats made 52.2 percent of their shots in the second half.

Northern Illinois grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, compared to only six by Ohio, but the Huskies turned it over more, 16-14.

Baltic had only three points but added seven rebounds and six assists. Jon Smith had a team-best eight boards, while D.J. Cooper, playing close to his Chicago home, had just four points and four assists.

Ohio hosts Central Michigan at 2 p.m. Saturday.