Sophomore Justin Massey’s 3-pointer with 49 seconds left gave Florida Atlantic men’s basketball the lead for the first time in the second half, and it never surrendered it, taking down Old Dominion University 65-61 Saturday night in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Owls (8-13, 4-6 Conference USA) trailed by 14 points with 5:22 remaining in the game, but closed the game by outscoring the Monarchs (14-9, 7-4) Conference USA) 25-7 the rest of the way.

Massey came off the bench and led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Five baskets came from three-point land.

Although the Owls shot just 40 percent from the field, they made seven more 3-pointers than Old Dominion. FAU ‘s bench outscored Old Dominion’s by 13 points.

The first few minutes of the game was a pretty tight affair, with each team going back and forth at each other. After the score was tied at 13 with 9:44 left in the half, the Monarchs outscored the Owls 14-6 to take a 27-19 halftime lead.

The Owls finished with more turnovers — eight — than assists — five. The mistakes led to nine points for the Monarchs.

Junior Frank Booker had six points in the half to lead FAU on 2-for-3 shooting, both of which came from three-point territory.

Old Dominion led by as many as 15 points early in the second half, but the Owls used a 10-0 run with 2:46 minutes left in the game to trim the lead down 54-50.

After the Monarchs pushed the lead to 57-50, the Owls would go on another run, scoring 12 points in the final 2:24 minutes to cap off the game.

Junior Brandan Stith led the Monarchs with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

The Owls have now won three straight games, their longest winning streak since December of 2014.

FAU will return home to host the University of North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m.

Hans Belot Jr. is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @Don_Phenom_.