With fourth place in the Mid-American Conference on the line, Ohio stepped up its game.

The Bobcats went on a 20-4 run during the last 5:32 of regulation to pick up a 72-59 win against the Falcons Wednesday night.

BG spent nearly the entire night playing catch up. The Falcons held the lead very early in the game, but a three-pointer by D.J. Cooper with 15:29 remaining in the first half gave the Bobcats a lead they would not relinquish until four consecutive made free throws – two from Dee Brown and two from Scott Thomas – with 6:59 to go in the second half put BG up 53-52.

During the time Ohio was up, BG trailed by as many as 12 points. A three-point play from Ohio’s Ricardo Johnson gave it that lead with 14:45 to go in the second half, but BG was able to whittle away that advantage.

Thomas led the Falcons with 17 points, and Brown chipped in with 15. Jordon Crawford added 11 points and three assists. However, BG shot only 39.6 percent from the field, including 22.2 percent from beyond the three-point line.

Cooper led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

The loss ends BG’s four-game win streak and puts it at 7-5 in the MAC. The Falcons have sole possession of fifth place in the conference. The top four seeds have byes in the first round of the conference tournament.

BG will take a break from MAC play this weekend to take part in the Sears BracketBuster game. The BracketBuster features 71 games with teams from mid-major conference that are looking to bolster their resumes for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.

For this, the Falcons will take on Morehead State on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Stroh Center. The Eagles, from the Ohio Valley conference, are 15-13 on the season.

Just a few weeks ago, the Eagles took then-undefeated No. 12 Murray State down to the wire, losing 66-60 in a game the Eagles at one point led by nine.