ATHENS, Ohio – With D.J. Cooper fouled out, Stevie Taylor drained a 3-pointer from the corner in the final seconds of overtime to lift Ohio to a 78-75 victory against Kent State on Saturday at The Convo.

The Golden Flashes still had a chance to win it, but they turned it over, leading to a Nick Kellogg layup. A desperation heave after that was off the mark as the Bobcats avoided an upset after giving up a 15-point second-half lead.

Walter Offutt scored 17 points and added four rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead Ohio (19-6, 10-1 Mid-American Conference). Cooper had 13 points and seven assists, Nick Kellogg scored 12 points and Reggie Keely finished with 10 points and eight boards.

Chris Evans’ 18 points and 14 rebounds were tops for Kent State (14-12, 5-7 MAC). Darren Goodson and Bryson Pope had nine points apiece.

Taylor’s 3-pointer came after Kris Brewer drew Cooper’s fifth foul and hit one of two free throws with 31 seconds left. Ohio called a timeout to set up a play, sending Offutt to the basket after catching a pass from Ivo Baltic. He kicked out to the corner after Brewer came off Taylor to help, giving him an open look.

“It was great, but it wasn’t just done by me,” Taylor said. “Coach drew up the play for Walt, and they stopped it, and he told me just to circle up and he kicked it.”

Giving up a 3-pointer was the last thing the Golden Flashes wanted to do on that possession with a two-point lead.

“We made a mistake,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. “… There was a timeout called and we wanted to not leave our man and not give up a 3 and make them drive it and we messed up. … That was a mistake on our part. It allowed Stevie Taylor to get a shot off. It was semi-contested, but I’d rather he not get it off.”

Back on defense, Offutt came up big again, knocking the ball away from Randal Holt. Kellogg came up with the ball and scored a layup ahead of the defense with only seconds remaining.

“I was thinking to myself we’ve got to play defense,” Offutt said. “… We knew Randall would want to take the last shot. … I stuck my hand in there and got a steal. I just plugged the gap.”

Taylor was raised above a mob of celebrating students after the final buzzer sounded.

Offutt scored while falling toward the baseline on a jumper from the right side to give Ohio a 72-71 lead in overtime and Cooper split a pair of free throws to push the Bobcats’ lead to two, but Evans caught a lob pass in the paint and slammed it home and Brewer added single free throws with 1:16 and 31 seconds left to play.

Kent State had the momentum going into overtime, coming back from a 46-31 deficit with 15:25 to play. Ohio’s lead was still 11 points with eight minutes remaining, but the Golden Flashes, who shot 72.7 percent in the second half, scored 12 straight points, taking the lead, 62-61, on a short Mark Henniger jumper with 5:42 remaining.

Neither team led by more than two the rest of regulation. Keely gave Ohio a 69-67 lead by hitting two free throws with 1:11 remaining, but Brewer answered with two of his own only eight seconds later to tie it at 69.

After Keely missed a jumper and Evans rebounded, Kent State had a chance to win it, but Henniger threw a pass out of bounds with three seconds left. Cooper got off a half-court shot before the buzzer, but it banked off the front of the rim to force overtime.

The Bobcats opened up an early 7-1 lead, but the Golden Flashes battled back to tie at 7 and went on to take a 23-16 advantage with 5:54 remaining.

Ohio answered with a 10-0 run that included five points from Offutt – his free throw with 1:16 before halftime giving Ohio a 26-23 lead. Kris Brewer tied the game with a three-point play before Keely and Offutt added single free throws on the Bobcats’ next possession.

Cooper came up with a steal in the closing seconds of the half and put up a long 3-pointer that rattled in and out and back in again to allow the Bobcats to take a 31-26 edge to the locker room.

“That’s what (Cooper) does,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “He was really sick. He was throwing up during the game. We had to slide the trash can over to him to throw up. … We came off the floor with so much energy, it kind of spread to the first 10 minutes of the second half, and then after that, it just got zapped. That’s the part we’ve got to fight.”

T.J. Hall hit a 3-pointer and Kellogg scored in the paint, both assisted by Cooper, to continue the run in the second half. An 8-0 run not much later gave the Bobcats a 46-31 advantage with 15:25 to play.

It was the second time the Golden Flashes lost in heart-breaking fashion to the Bobcats. Holt missed a shot at the buzzer at Kent three weeks ago to allow Ohio to hold on for a 69-68 victory.

The Golden Flashes shot 49.1 percent in the game – including 6-of-9 second-half 3-point shooting – compared to 43.9 percent by the Bobcats, but they were done in by a 22-10 turnover disparity. Cooper and Offutt had four and three steals, respectively.

Ohio makes up its postponed game against Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Convo.