Ohio suffered its first home loss of the season on Monday, losing to Robert Morris 70-67.
Poor shooting and an inability to connect on critical attempts eventually doomed the Bobcats (12-2) despite forcing 31 turnovers.
Ohio made only three of 26 three-point attempts and sealed its fated failure with a missed three-point shot off the hands of D.J. Cooper as the buzzer sounded on the three-point loss.
The Bobcats also struggled from the free-throw line, connecting only 16 of 23 attempts and missing crucial foul shots in the waning minutes of the contest.
"I thought (the Colonials) were the better basketball team tonight," Ohio coach John Groce said. "They got the loose balls we weren’t able to get to. Their execution was better than ours."
Worsening the effect of Ohio's poor shooting was the Colonials' (11-4) lights-out shooting.
Robert Morris made seven of 16 three-point attempts and connected on 13 of 16 free-throw attempts.
Ohio was out-rebounded 43-29, leading to plenty of second-chance baskets for its opponent.
The Colonials led by 11 points with 2:55 to play in the first half, but the Bobcats roared back and closed the gap to 33-31 at the half.
Robert Morris led by seven with just more than a minute in the game. But back-to-back turnovers on the inbounds allowed Ohio to pull within three.
The Bobcats had multiple three-point attempts to tie the game, but none of them found the bottom of the net.
Reggie Keely and Ivo Baltic led Ohio with 14 points apiece, while Robert Morris' Velton Jones led all scorers with 17 points.
"I’m proud of our effort," Groce said. "I think we fought. Effort was not our problem. Our effort was outstanding; our execution was terrible."
Check tomorrow's edition of The Post for a full recap of tonight's game.
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