ATHENS, Ohio ? The Ohio men?s basketball team erased a 12-point second half deficit and took its first lead in more than 39 minutes to knock off Mid-American Conference West Division leader Western Michigan 89-85 Saturday in the Convocation Center. The win extends Ohio?s home winning streak to 10 games, dating back to last season.

Ohio has now won four straight, its longest streak since the 1999-2000 campaign.

?This team?s confidence is growing,? said Ohio head coach Tim O?Shea. ?Western Michigan is the elite of the league. We have to go on the road now but we certainly have enough positive experiences to have confidence.?

The Bobcats (12-7, 7-4 MAC) took a 2-0 lead eight seconds into the game but would trail until just 24 seconds remained in the contest. After trailing by 12 points in the second half, Ohio rallied to tie the score with just more than five minutes remaining.

Trailing by three with less than a minute left, Ohio came out of a timeout and pulled to within one with a Mychal Green (Columbus) lay-in on the baseline. On the other end, freshman Jeremy Fears (Joliet, Ill.) made his fourth steal of the game to put the ball back in Ohio?s hands. The Bobcats capitalized as Green hit a three to give Ohio a two-point edge with 24 seconds left.

The Ohio defense got the stop it needed on the ensuing possession, forcing a missed jumper. Fears snatched the rebound, was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the victory.

Green led Ohio with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds.

?Mychal was tremendous tonight,? said O?Shea about his junior guard. ?He?s probably as hard a worker as I?ve ever coached. We?ve got a real go-to guy; I?m really excited by his progress. He really is one of the elite players in the MAC right now.?

Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis) chipped in 20 points with eight boards and six assists. Despite struggling from the field, Fears collected 11 points and eight assists on the afternoon.

Western Michigan (15-7, 8-4) controlled the first half thanks to the hot-shooting of Ben Reed. The guard scored the Broncos? first nine points of the half and hit seven-of-nine shots from the field, including four-of-five from behind the arc to total 18 points at the break. The Broncos led by seven at intermission, only to increase their lead out of the locker room.

Reed and Western Michigan continued to rely on the three in the second half, quickly thwarting any potential Bobcat runs. The Broncos took a 10-point lead four minutes in and saw that advantage swell to 12.

Ohio went on a series of mini-runs throughout the second half but could not overcome the deficit until the 5:12 mark. From there, though, the Bobcats would pull away down the stretch.

?We didn?t catch Western Michigan on an off day and beat them,? O?Shea said. ?We beat them when they were playing, I think, as well as they can play.?

Reed finished the night with 27 points while Levi Rost kicked in 20 for the Broncos. Western Michigan shot better than 51 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from behind the arc.

Ohio shot 51.5 percent for the game but struggled from the charity stripe, shooting just 45.5 percent. The Bobcats forced 17 Western Michigan turnovers while committing just six on their end.

Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to Bowling Green on Monday night. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Net Ohio at 8 p.m. from Anderson Arena. The Bobcats will then return to Athens and put their season-long home winning streak on the line against Miami at 4 p.m. next Saturday in a game that will be televised by the Ohio Sports Network.

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