BOCA RATON, Fla. — WKU completed a 19-point swing over 20 minutes in the middle part of the game, leading by nine after trailing by nine, but the veteran Florida Atlantic Owls, the defending conference champion and preseason pick to win the east division again this season, scored a basket with 10 seconds left in the game to earn a 67-66 win. The Hilltoppers fall to 6-15 overall and 2-6 in conference play with the loss, and Florida Atlantic improves to 9-12 and 5-3 this season.

The Owls scored 12 of the final 14 points of the game, spanning the last 4:11 on the clock, to earn the come-from-behind win on Jordan McCoy's layup with just a few seconds left. McCoy finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Owls, who saw 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from Shavar Richardson. Derrick Gordon had 16 points to lead the Hilltoppers, and George Fant added 13 and seven rebounds. O'Karo Akamune made his first start of his career and contributed eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist in 21 solid minutes.

Jamal Crook filled the stat sheet to the tune of eight points, four rebounds and a season-high seven assists. WKU had 11 assists on 23 made baskets and shot 80.0 percent from the free throw line (16-for-20). The Owls shot 46.3 percent as a team in the game (25-for-54), and WKU finished at 41.8 percent (23-for-55) after converting at a 44.4 percent clip in the second 20 minutes.

The Hilltoppers held Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference First Team selections Greg Gantt and Raymond Taylor to a combined 12 points in the game on 4-of-16 shooting.

Finding themselves down 27-18 with 5:24 left in the first half after Florida Atlantic's Alex Tucker hit a jump shot, the Hilltoppers proceeded to score 11 of the next 14 points and got within one just three minutes later. Fant started it off with two free throws, and Vinny Zollo nailed a three-pointer on a great assist by Jay Starks. Gordon converted a pair of free throws himself 25 seconds later, and Kene Anyigbo got a steal right before the under-4:00 media timeout.

After Richardson missed a three-pointer, Fant made a layup on a Crook assist, and then the duo hooked up again as Crook made a runner in the lane after a Fant rebound on the other end to bring the Owl lead down to 30-29. McCoy finished in the paint a minute later to put the Owls up by three again, but a Fant free throw and a Crook layup on a fastbreak at the buzzer converting his own steal completed the WKU comeback and tied the game at 32 heading into the halftime locker room.

The Hilltoppers carried the momentum to the start of the second half, scoring eight of the first 10 points after intermission to extend their lead to 40-34 after Crook nailed a pair at the line. Florida Atlantic scored six-straight to tie the game at 40, but the Hilltoppers then rattled off seven-in-a-row with the dagger being a T.J. Price three-pointer to lead by seven at 47-40 with 13:08 left in the game.

WKU kept Florida Atlantic at arm's length for much of the middle part of the second half, and the Hilltoppers opened up a lead as large as nine with 5:23 remaining in the game after Kahlil McDonald got a rebound, was fouled and made two free throws. The Hilltopper lead remained at nine, 64-55, with 4:11 to play, but from there the Owls began to chip away.

The Hilltoppers turned it over on back-to-back possessions, and Kelvin Penn scored four-straight for Florida Atlantic to trim the lead to five with 2:32 left in the game. Akamune got an offensive rebound the next time down the court for WKU, but another Hilltopper miscue led to a McCoy layup, and Florida Atlantic was within three at 64-61 with 120 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Gordon was called for an offensive foul, and Richardson came down and made a jump shot to cap the 8-0 Owl run and bring the crowd at FAU Arena to its feet. Gordon redeemed himself with two free throws 30 seconds later to give WKU another three-point lead at 66-63 with under a minute to go.

But McCoy made two layups on assists by Tucker and Taylor, respectively, with the last one coming with the shot clock turned off and the game clock showing 10 seconds, to put the Owls ahead for the first time in over 19 minutes at 67-66. The Hilltoppers could not get anything going in their final possession, and the Owls did just enough to get the one-point victory.

The Owls scored 13 points off eight second-half Hilltopper turnovers.

The loss was WKU's first in six trips to Boca Raton. The Hilltoppers still lead the all-time series between the East Division foes, 9-3.

WKU wraps up its trip to Florida with a game at FIU Saturday night in Miami. The 6:30 PM (CT) tip-off will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports and DirecTV channel 617 and locally in Bowling Green on WKYU-PBS. The game will also be available on the radio on the Hilltopper IMG Sports Network with Randy Lee and Hal Schmitt on the call.