BUFFALO, N.Y. – Ohio scored the game’s final nine points, getting a go-ahead D.J. Cooper 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining, and the Bobcats rallied in the closing minutes for a 72-69 victory against Buffalo at Alumni Arena.

Cooper scored 24 points and added five assists, helping Ohio (22-8, 13-2 Mid-American Conference) to come back from a six-point deficit with less than four minutes remaining. Cooper eclipsed the 2,000-point mark in his career, becoming just the third player, along with Gary Payton and Sherman Douglas, to score 2,000 points with 900 assists. He is the first to add 600 rebounds and 300 steals to those totals and he also broke the school career 3-pointer record, passing Tommy Freeman.

Ivo Baltic broke out of a slump, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the first half, while Reggie Keely had nine points and six rebounds.

Will Regan led the Bulls (12-18, 7-8 MAC) with 20 points and eight boards. Javon McCrea scored 19 points and had five boards, while Tony Watson had 11 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and five assists.

McCrea scored and drew Keely’s fourth foul with 3:51 to go, giving the Bulls a 69-63 lead. He missed the free throw, but Regan came up with the offensive board. Turnovers, though, spelled doom for the Bulls.

Nick Kellogg came up with a steal and assisted a Keely layup. Buffalo threw away the inbound pass, leading to a Keely free throw after he reeled in an offensive rebound.

After both teams had misses, McCrea traveled and Cooper hit the first of two free throws with 2:02 remaining to make it a 69-67 game. McCrea then missed on the front end of a one-and-one, leading to Cooper’s go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing.

Auraum Nuiriankh missed for Buffalo, and after an Ohio miss, Jarryn Skeete was blocked out of bounds by Keely. With only three seconds left on the shot clock and five in the game, the inbound pass went to Watson, who turned and threw up an air ball 3-pointer that went out of bounds. Nick Kellogg closed out the game with two free throws with one second left.

The Bulls had 18 turnovers to only seven by the Bobcats, who were beat on the boards, 43-20.

It was a game of big runs. The Bobcats’ final one came after an 18-3 Buffalo run erased a 60-51 Ohio lead with nine minutes to go. After a Ricardo Johnson free throw, the Bulls scored 12 straight points.

Buffalo got off to a hot start in the game, going ahead 12-2 on a Watson 3-pointer less than three minutes into the game, and the Bulls’ lead was still 10 points after a McCrae free throw at the 13:06 mark.

Ohio chipped away, taking a 24-23 advantage on two Walter Offutt free throws with 8:02 remaining in the first half. A Travis Wilkins jump shot with 3:47 remaining made it 32-31 in favor of the Bobcats, who went up by as much as seven before taking a 42-37 halftime lead.

Buffalo got a McCrea layup and a Regan 3-pointer to tie the game quickly in the second half. Ohio came back with nine points in a row, going ahead 51-42 on a Baltic layup with 14:15 left in the game.

The Bobcats shot 48 percent (29 of 60) while the Bulls connected on 49 percent (26 of 53) of their shots. Ohio had a 27-8 advantage in points off turnovers, while Buffalo scored 18 second-chance points to 10 for Ohio.

Cooper went 9 of 16 from the field, including 5 of 10 from long range. The rest of the Bobcats combined to go 1 of 12 from beyond the arc.

Akron’s 72-58 victory against Miami clinched the MAC Tournament’s No. 1 seed for the Zips, but Ohio still can earn a share of the regular season title if the Zips drop their final game at home against Kent State on Friday night and the Bobcats win their finale at home against the RedHawks at 4 p.m. Saturday.