FAU men’s basketball defeated the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs (14-17, 7-13 C-USA) 76-72 in their regular season finale Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La.

“Our response to adversity was incredible,” said head coach Dusty May.

The 4-point victory put a cap on a historic regular season for the Owls, where they finished with an overall record of 28-3, and a conference record of 18-2—the best finish in program history.

The two teams last faced off on Feb. 11, when the Owls survived a 90-85 overtime scare to the Bulldogs on their home court in Boca Raton.

FAU started the first half with a three-pointer made by junior guard Bryan Greenlee, and remained in control until LA Tech took their first lead of the game with 10:06 in the first half.

The Bulldogs held the lead for the remainder of the half, but the Owls’ hot shooting from deep (7-14) kept the score close and they went into halftime trailing 43-38.

This wasn’t unfamiliar territory, however. Two times this season the Owls went into halftime facing a deficit, before mounting a comeback victory.

Despite being down five going into the second half, the Owls started off strong. Sophomore center Vladislav Goldin scored on back-to-back possessions to open the second half, which shrunk the lead to 42-43.

The second half score remained tight, and with 10:19 in regulation, senior guard Michael Forrest tied things at 60 apiece with a three-pointer. A minute later, sophomore guard Johnell Davis sank a jumpshot giving FAU its first lead of the second half.

With five minutes left in regulation, FAU led by just one, but their shooting from the foul line helped stave off the Bulldogs’ comeback attempt. In the final three minutes, the Owls drew four trips to the line and made five of those seven free-throw attempts to hold on for a 76-72 victory.

The Owls will now prepare to travel to Frisco, Texas for the C-USA Championship Tournament which will be held from March 8-11. Their Feb. 25 victory over the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) secured FAU the #1 seed and a first-round bye in the tournament.

On March 9 at 8:30 p.m., FAU will take on the winner of the first round matchup between the University of Texas at El Paso Miners and the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Nicole Vogt is a staff writer at the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at [email protected], or tweet her @nicole_nikkiv.