ATHENS – Austin Peay rallied from 18 points down to force overtime, but it was Ohio that had the final comeback by scoring the last eight points to take an 85-82 victory Saturday at The Convo.

The Governors slowly worked their way back after falling behind 36-18 with 8:39 left in the first half and got to overtime on a Dayton Gumm basket in the final seconds of regulation. Then with Austin Peay up 82-77 in overtime, Ohio did not give up any points over the final 3:40.

Ohio (3-2) scored all of its overtime points in the final 1:43, beginning with a pair of Teyvion Kirk free throws. Jason Carter’s bucket on an assist by Antonio Cowart Jr. got the Bobcats to within one with 1:07 to go, and then Gavin Block got a defender in the air to draw a foul and proceeded to hit two free throws to put Ohio on top 83-82.

After another stop on defense, Ohio got two Kirk free throws with seven seconds left and then forced another miss in the final seconds to preserve the win.

Carter and Kirk led the Bobcats with double-doubles. Carter finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and two blocks, while Kirk had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Gavin Block scored 11 points, Cowart finished with 10, and Doug Taylor nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

Chris Porter-Bunton led a balanced effort by the Governors (2-4) with 16 points off the bench. Zach Glotta and Gumms each had 15 points, and Terry Taylor and Steve Harris finished with 13 each.

Ohio controlled the game early, scoring the first six points and then going up by as much as 18 on a Kirk three-point play. Glotta made a 3-pointer just before the end of the half that got Austin Peay to within 42-28, and the momentum carried after the break.

Harris hit a jumper to cut Ohio’s deficit to single digits with 16:33 to go, and Austin Peay tied the game at 49 on a Harris free throw with 11:43 remaining. Porter-Bunton gave the Governors their first lead 58-56 with 8:37 remaining. The game was tight the rest of the way, with neither team leading by more than three the rest of regulation.

Ohio missed free-throw opportunities to possibly close it out in regulation. Carter split two with 1:59 to go, tying the game at 70. Kirk made two at the line to put Ohio up by two, and Gumm answered with two of his own with 59 seconds to go.

Kirk assisted a Carter layup that put the Bobcats back in front 74-72, and after an illegal screen gave Ohio possession again, Kirk hit two more at the line, making it 76-72 with 33 seconds remaining. Glotta drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game, and Gumm got the game-tying basket after Block split two at the foul line.

Porter-Bunton scored a layup and Taylor a 3-pointer to give Austin Peay a quick five-point lead in overtime, but the Governors missed their final seven shots with one turnover after that.

Ohio’s struggles from the outside continued as it finished just 6 of 26 on 3-pointers but it still managed to shoot 43.7 percent overall. The Bobcats were 17 of 27 (63 percent) at the foul line. Austin Peay shot 43.1 percent overall, including 7 of 19 (36.8 percent) on 3-pointers, and made 13 of 20 (65 percent) free-throw tries.

Ohio hosts Iona at 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Convo.