Coming off a last second victory on Thursday, FAU’s late game magic at The Burrow extended into the weekend.

This time, with a twist.

Despite trailing by as many as 19 in the second half, FAU roared back for an 86-81 double overtime victory over North Texas. In the previous game against Denver, FAU blew its 16 point first half lead but rallied to win by one.

The past two games have not been for the faint of heart, but head coach Mike Jarvis has a message for fans.

“Enjoy it,” Jarvis said. “Keep taking your heart medication.”

Guard Shavar Richardson, the hero from the previous contest, stepped up again.  In double overtime, he entered the game for the fouled-out Dennis Mavin, and promptly hit a top of the key 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to lift FAU to a 84-79 lead with a minute to go that it would not relinquish.

“Shavar came in off the bench after sitting almost the whole second half, and hit one of the biggest shots of the game,” point guard Ray Taylor said.

“They didn’t step up,” Richardson said of North Texas’ defense. “So I had to take the shot. I knew it was going to go in.”

Earlier, Ray Taylor nailed a 3-pointer with his defender draped over him at the shot clock buzzer to give FAU a 78-74 lead with 3:38 left. On FAU’s first possession of double overtime, Taylor tossed a half court lob to Kore White, who laid it in to give the Owls a 75-73 lead.

In the first overtime, a Ray Taylor floater in the lane gave FAU a 73-71 lead in the extra period. North Texas would answer right back with a transition layup from Brandon Walton off an errant Taylor pass to tie the score at 73 with 56 seconds remaining.

FAU guard Dennis Mavin, missed a pair of free throws with 40 seconds that would have given the Owls the lead. Mavin would make up for his miscue on the defensive end, as he grabbed a missed Roger Franklin jumper that brought the game into a second overtime.

With FAU down by three in regulation, 3-point attempts by Pablo Bertone and Dennis Mavin were off the mark, but an offensive rebound by Mavin led to one final shot for the Owls, a top of the key 3-pointer that Alex Tucker drained to tie the game with 25.9 seconds left.

The Mean Green had a chance to respond, but a missed 3-pointer in the corner from Jacob Holmen sent the game into overtime.

A 14-5 North Texas run to start the second half put FAU’s deficit at 48-29 with 14:38 left. But then FAU’s smallest player decided to put the team on his back. Five feet 6 inches Ray Taylor scored 17 points in the last 17 minutes of the game for FAU. Taylor knew it was now or never for the Owls.

“When you’re down 19, you’ve got no choice. Your back is against the wall,” Taylor said. “If I was going to go out, I had to go out swinging.”

Taylor finished with 23 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Owls used stingy defense from the closing lineup of Ray Taylor, Alex Tucker, Dennis Mavin, Pablo Bertone and Kore White to gather the necessary momentum to push the game into overtime.

“The turning point of the game wasn’t about any shots,” Jarvis said.  “It was about the fact that we started to get them to turn the ball over by really picking up the defense.”

FAU forced North Texas into 27 turnovers, scoring 26 points off them.

“Offensively, we started out bad,” forward Kore White said. “But once we started playing defense, then we were able to flow into a good offense. I think that played a big part in it.”

White, who played one minute in the previous game against Denver, led the team in scoring off the bench, as his total was higher than highly touted North Texas freshman forward Tony Mitchell, who had 22. Scouts were at the game to observe Mitchell, but it was White who stole the show.

“That’s the way Kore could play every night,” Jarvis said. “His mother gave him a good tongue lashing the other night — deservingly so — and it paid big time dividends.”

Even though Mitchell more than doubled White in rebounds (20-9), White was up for the task, playing inspired and aggressive, challenging him into tough, contested shots all night.

“I knew playing against him, my margin for error had to be even less because he would expose me unlike any other player,” White admitted.

Ray Taylor went for over 1,000 points in his college career during the game.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Taylor said. “I’m just glad I can get that 1,000 points in a win like tonight.”

But to Jarvis, only the result of the past two games matter, nothing else.

“We didn’t play great basketball this week, but we played winning basketball,” Jarvis said. “I guess in the end that’s really what its about.”