ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — Sam Wiglusz leaped high to pull in a 22-yard pass from Kurtis Rourke over an outstretched defender in the end zone for the deciding fourth-quarter touchdown as Ohio pulled out a 24-17 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday to improve to 3-1 in the Mid-American Conference West Division.

Roarke also found Wiglusz with an eight-yard touchdown pass to cap the game’s opening drive and nosed in from the 1 with 4:16 left in the third quarter to give the Bobcats (5-3) a 17-9 lead.

Kacper Rutkiewicz scored the Huskies’ lone touchdown of the game on an 11-yard run with 1:31 left in the third quarter and Nate Valcarcel threw to Cole Tucker for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 17.

John Richardson kicked field goals from 38-, 27- and 45-yards out to keep Northern Illinois (2-6, 1-3) within a point, 10-9 with just under 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

Rourke was 14 of 26 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns and led the Bobcats’ running game with 64 yards on seven carries, breaking free for a 61-yard dash. Wiglusz finished with six catches for 69 yards.

Antario Brown had 160 yards on 16 carries to lead Northern Illinois. Justin Lynch completed half of his 18 pass attempts for 110 yards.

N. Illinois	0	6	11	0	—	17
Ohio	7	3	7	7	—	24

First Quarter

OHIO_Wiglusz 8 pass from Rourke (Vakos kick), 11:05.

Second Quarter

NIU_FG Richardson 38, 10:49.

NIU_FG Richardson 27, 4:07.

OHIO_FG Vakos 31, :19.

Third Quarter

NIU_FG Richardson 45, 10:56.

OHIO_Rourke 1 run (Vakos kick), 4:16.

NIU_Rutkiewicz 11 run (Tucker pass from Valcarcel), 1:31.

Fourth Quarter

OHIO_Wiglusz 22 pass from Rourke (Vakos kick), 7:00.

A_15,922.

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	NIU	OHIO
First downs	17	20
Total Net Yards	377	354
Rushes-yards	48-267	33-154
Passing	110	200
Punt Returns	2-3	1-2
Kickoff Returns	2-24	3-54
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	0-0
Comp-Att-Int	9-18-0	14-26-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	0-0	2-18
Punts	3-40.333	4-45.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-0	0-0
Penalties-Yards	6-50	0-0
Time of Possession	32:30	27:30

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_N. Illinois, A.Brown 16-160, Waylee 18-97, Rutkiewicz 1-11, Lynch 11-10, (Team) 2-(minus 11). Ohio, Rourke 7-64, Bangura 10-62, McCormick 14-30, M.Cross 1-1, (Team) 1-(minus 3).

PASSING_N. Illinois, Lynch 9-18-0-110. Ohio, Rourke 14-26-0-200.

RECEIVING_N. Illinois, Tucker 3-24, Rutkiewicz 1-41, Thornton 1-20, Blakemore 1-12, Tewes 1-7, Soraghan 1-3, Waylee 1-3. Ohio, Wiglusz 6-69, Bangura 3-32, Kacmarek 2-33, M.Cross 2-28, Bostic 1-38.

MISSED FIELD GOALS_Ohio, Vakos 41.