BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Daveon Boardingham scored 24 points, hitting 12 of 15 free throws, as Southern Miss outlasted Florida Atlantic 60-49 on Sunday.

Southern Miss (25-5, 12-3 Conference USA) moved into a first-place tie with Middle Tennessee with one game to play.

The Eagles went on a 9-0 run midway through the first half, as Florida Atlantic (10-20, 5-10) went scoreless for 7 minutes, en route to a 31-24 lead at the break.

FAU cut the lead to three on a Justin Raffington jumper with 5:30 left in the game. But Southern Miss responded with an 8-0 run as FAU made just one of its last five shots and turned it over three times in the last 4:22.

Aaron Brown added 15 points for USM, making all eight of his free throw attempts.

Raffington paced FAU with 14 points. Jackson Trapp had 11 and Tyler Pate added 10.