ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio closed on a 20-4 run to take a 72-59 victory against Bowling Green at The Convo on Wednesday night, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The Bobcats (20-6, 8-4 Mid-American Conference) led most of the way, but the Falcons rallied for a 55-52 advantage with 6:11 remaining before Ohio closed strong.

D.J. Cooper finished with 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting. No other Ohio player reached double digits, but the Bobcats got plenty of contributions, including nine points and nine rebounds from Jon Smith and eight points and eight rebounds from Ivo Baltic.

Scott Thomas led Bowling Green (13-12, 7-5 MAC) with 17 points and five rebounds. Dee Brown scored 15 points and Jordon Crawford had 11 points.

Cooper knotted the game at 55 with a 3-pointer after a steal and he put the Bobcats up for good with a jumper in the lane with 5:08 to go. Smith’s dunk off a Cooper miss was followed by a Cooper layup through contact. He missed the free throw, but it capped off a 9-0 run for a 61-55 lead.

A’uston Calhoun, the Falcons’ leading scorer who was held to four points, hit two free throws with 3:38 left to make it a four-point game, but Cooper answered with three at the foul line after a Crawford foul on a trey attempt.

Baltic hit a jumper with 2:07 left to make it a nine-point game, which was answered by Craig Sealy dunking off a steal of an inbound pass with 1:35 to go. Smith threw down a slam with 1:04 left to lock up the victory.

Smith helped Ohio dominate the boards with his seven offensive rebounds matching the total by Bowling Green. The Bobcats finished with a 43-26 advantage on the boards, including 17 on the offensive glass.

Ohio led just 28-26 at halftime but held Bowling Green without a point for the first five and a half minutes of the second half, scoring 10 straight points, punctuated by a Ricardo Johnson three-point play that gave the Bobcats a 38-26 lead with 14:45 remaining.

Crawford converted a three-point play and then got a steal for a layup with 11:22 to draw Bowling Green within five. A Sealy three-point play at the 9:03 mark got the Falcons as close as 48-46.

Down 52-46, Bowling Green got a 3-pointer from Dee Brown, and after a loose ball foul on Reggie Keely on the other end, Ohio coach John Groce was whistled for a technical foul. Brown converted the technical shots and Thomas the personal foul attempts to put the Falcons up, 53-52, at the 6:59 mark. Sealy added a basket to make it a three-point game.

Except for Bowling Green leads of 3-2 and 5-3, Ohio led the entire first half, going up 16-8 on a TyQuane Goard alley-oop dunk on a pass from Stevie Taylor. The lead grew to 24-14 on a Baltic layup with 9:34 left before the break.

The Falcons closed strong, though, getting a Crawford fast break layup to get within two at halftime.

A rarity, Ohio committed more turnovers than its opponent, 15-13, including 9-5 in the first half. Bowling Green shot just 39.6 percent, though, including making just 4 of 18 3-pointers. Ohio made good on 44.6 percent of its attempts and got to the line 28 times, making 18. The Falcons were 13 of 14 on foul shots.

The victory gives Ohio a season split with Bowling Green and puts the Bobcats a game ahead in fourth place in the MAC standings.

The Bobcats take a break from conference action for a 7 p.m. BracketBuster game Saturday against UNC-Asheville at The Convo.