Tyren Johnson scored 23 points, including two jumpers with less than 2 minutes left, as Louisiana-Lafayette held off Florida Atlantic 81-74 on Saturday after losing a 14-point first-half lead.
Travis Bureau added 19 points for the Ragin' Cajuns (3-4, 1-0 Sun Belt), who shot 50 percent (7-for-14) from 3-point range in the first half and scored 15 points off turnovers to lead 45-34 at intermission.
Raymond Taylor, who led Florida Atlantic (4-4, 0-1) with 23 points, scored three free throws during a 7-0 second-half run that gave the Owls their only lead of the final 20 minutes, 58-57, with 8:44 remaining.
Randell Daigle's jumper gave the lead back to the Ragin' Cajuns, but Florida Atlantic trailed just 69-67 with 2:07 left. Johnson made it 71-67 with a jumper with 1:52 remaining and, after a free throw by the Owls' Brett Royster, hit another at the 1:03 mark to make it 73-68.
