ATHENS – Jaaron Simmons had 17 points and eight assists, and Ohio held off Jackon State, 72-67, on Thursday night.

Antonio Campbell added 13 points and 11 rebounds, Treg Setty had 13 points and nine boards, and Jordan Dartis finished with 12 points for the Bobcats (7-3).

Paris Collins led the Tigers (4-8) with 15 points, while Yettra Specks had 13 points, and Troy Stancil scored 10 points.

Collins’ three-point play with 7:37 remaining tied the game at 51, but Ohio followed with a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. Simmons hit a jumper and added two free throws, Kenny Kaminski hit a 3-pointer, and Setty completed a 3-point play.

The lead reached 13 on a Campbell free throw with 2:24 to go, but Jackson State pushed Ohio in the final minute. Stancil’s layup with 59 seconds to go cut his team’s deficit to single digits, 68-59, and Chace Franklin hit a 3-pointer after a turnover to make it 68-62 with 41 seconds left.

After two free throws by Campbell, Javeres Brent’s 3-pointer made it 70-65, but two free throws by Kaminski with just eight seconds left made it a three-possession game and clinched the Ohio win.

Jackson State had a 13-2 run in the middle of the first half to go up 21-14 before Ohio tied it with seven straight points. The Tigers led 33-30 at halftime, but the Bobcats slowly built a lead in the second half.

“We had a lot of leaks springing in the dam there. We got them plugged up with toes and fingers and anything we could find,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said.

The Tigers shot only 36.8 percent but forced the Bobcats into 15 turnovers and had 20 offensive rebounds. Ohio had a big advantage at the foul line, going 27 of 38, compared to just 10 of 18 by Jackson State.

Ohio hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 p.m. Monday at The Convo.