BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Reggie Keely scored 21 points and Nick Kellogg added 16 as Ohio got its first win at Bowling Green in five years, 78-65, on Saturday at the Stroh Center.

The Bobcats went on a 13-0 run in the first half to build a lead, and after the Falcons, rallied, Ohio used an 8-0 second-half run to begin pulling away.

Walter Offutt had 12 points and five assists, and D.J. Cooper finished with 10 points and six assists while tying Tommy Freeman’s school record for career 3-pointers.

A’uston Calhoun paced all players with 24 points and seven rebounds but no other Bowling Green player reached double figures.

Calhoun hit a jumper to give the Falcons (12-17, 6-8 MAC) an early 7-2 lead. After missing five of their first six shots, the Bobcats (21-8, 12-2 Mid-American Conference) bounced back by making 6 of 8. A basket by Jon Smith put Ohio on top, 15-7.

Anthony Henderson’s layup at the 8:19 mark made it a two-point game again before Offutt capped off a 7-0 run with a layup to make it 24-15. Kellogg hit a 3-pointer to push Ohio’s advantage to 13 and he added a steal for a layup that maintained the margin at 34-21.

Bowling Green, though, scored the final five points of the half, getting a Calhoun 3-pointer before the buzzer to get within six, 39-33.

The run continued in the second half. A Luke Kraus 3-pointer sandwiched between two Calhoun baskets gave the Falcons their 12th straight point and a 40-39 lead early in the half. Cooper drained a 3-pointer for his first points before Calhoun knotted the game at 42 with another score in the paint.

Finally, Ohio took control for good with seven straight Keely points. He knocked down a short jumper, scored a three-point play and then beat the defense up the court after an Offutt steal to make it 49-42.

Bowling Green hung around. Kraus had a steal that led to a Jordon Crawford layup, making it a 66-61 game with five minutes remaining. That was as close as it got. Offutt hit a jumper with a toe on the 3-point line, Cooper buried a trey and then Kellogg connected from deep to forge a 13-point Bobcats advantage with 2:14 remaining.

After struggling with his outside shot for the last few games, Kellogg went 6 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Another struggling player, Ivo Baltic, was unable to break out of his slump. He went 1 of 8 while returning to a starting role as T.J. Hall sat out with a sore knee.

Other than Baltic, all of Ohio’s players made at least half of their attempts and the Bobcats finished 32 of 61 (52.5 percent) from the field. Bowling Green made 48 percent of its field goal tries but had 11 fewer attempts primarily due to a 21-8 turnover disparity. Crawford had six turnovers to go with his seven points and seven assists.

With the win, the Bobcats clinched the No. 2 seed in the MAC tournament, giving them a bye to the semifinals.

Ohio plays its final road game of the season at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Buffalo.