ATHENS - For the second game in a row, an opponent rallied in the second half but missed a potential game-changing shot at the buzzer as Ohio held off Eastern Michigan, 76-73, on Saturday at The Convo.

Raven Lee missed a 3-pointer that could have tied the game after the Eagles trailed by 15 with 8:19 remaining. It was one of the few times Lee missed. He scored 33 points in just 21 minutes, and all but two of his points came in the second half.

Javarez Willis led the Bobcats (9-12, 4-6 Mid-American Conference) with 22 points, Maurice Ndour had 16 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three assists, and Antonio Campbell posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards, along with four assists.

Ohio's victory avenged a 76-40 blowout at the hands of Eastern Michigan only a week and a half ago.

On Wednesday night, the Bobcats nearly gave up a double-digit second-half lead, but held on, 83-82, against Akron after Deji Ibitayo missed at the buzzer.

Treg Setty pushed Ohio's advantage to 61-46 with 8:19 remaining, but Eastern Michigan battled back behind Lee's big effort after he sat out much of the first half with an illness. He scored 23 of the Eagles' 27 points the rest of the way.

Despite Lee's efforts, the Bobcats' lead still was in double-figures with five minutes left after two Campbell free throws made it 66-56. Lee had back-to-back 3-pointers, with only a Setty free throw in between, cutting the Eagles' deficit to 67-62.

Later, Willis pushed the Bobcats' lead back up to eight with a 3-pointer with 2:17 to go, but Lee answered with a layup, and then hit another trey with 1:15 remaining, making it 73-70. Stevie Taylor split two free throws, and finally someone else got involved. Tim Bond connected from deep to make it a 75-73 game with 45 seconds left.

Taylor split two attempts at the line again with 11 seconds left, and the Eagles went back to Lee one more time, but his 3-point attempt was off the mark.

After taking only three shots in the first half, Lee finished 10-of-20 overall, including 5-of-10 from long range. Jordan Price with 12 points was the only other Eagle in double-figures with 12 points.

Eastern Michigan appeared it might give Ohio fits again in the opening minutes, jumping out to a 10-2 lead. The Bobcats this time battled back and took their first lead, 15-14, on a Taylor free throw at the 8:02 mark in the first half. They never trailed again.

It was 14-9 in favor of the Eagles after a Talley layup midway through the half, but they went cold, not scoring again for more than four minutes while the Bobcats went on an 11-0 run that was part of a bigger 19-4 span.

Eastern Michigan got as close as 39-38 on a Lee 3-pointer in the first four minutes of the second half, but Ohio gradually added to its advantage and the used a 9-0 spurt to take its biggest lead.

Willis had his second straight big game, though he was not as efficient, going 8-of-18 from the floor, including 6-of-15 on 3-pointers.

The Bobcats finished at 47.1 percent for the game - including 57.1 percent in the second half- and made 20-of-25 free throws. It was a massive improvement from three games earlier against the Eagles when they shot only 22.8 percent with 18 turnovers.

Ohio won for the fourth time in the last six games after starting 0-4 in MAC play. It also won its third straight MAC home game since dropping their first two.

At home again Tuesday, the Bobcats will host Central Michigan at 7 p.m. at The Convo.