After seven tries, luck finally came to the home team in the series between ULM and the Florida Atlantic Owls.

The ULM Warhawks defeated FAU, 20-17, on Saturday at Malone Stadium in another close, hard-fought battle between the two rivals.

Since the series began in 2004, every game came down to a touchdown, but no home team won the previous six meetings.

A strong passing attack and resilient defense near the end of the game changed the fortunes for the home team and allowed ULM to take a 5-2 lead in the all-time matchup.

“I’m really, really proud of this football team,” ULM head coach Todd Berry said. “We have some work to do and that is apparent but I really believe that this team has a lot of the intangibles that you’re looking for; it just needs to grow up.”

ULM (2-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) gained 338 passing yards thanks to quarterback Kolton Browning’s fourth straight 200-yard game. The Mebank, Texas native showed his worth on the Warhawks’ final drive after he completed four of his eight passes to set up Jyruss Edwards’ five-yard game-winning touchdown.

“We came out and we wanted to go [to our] two minute [offense] so our offense took the ball down the field,” Browning said. “We came in with a good game plan and they got a little tired at the end of the game which helped us out.”

Edwards’ touchdown not only clinched the game for ULM, but it also was his first collegiate score and it could not have come at a better time.

“There are a lot of moments in life like your wedding and your first child and that was one of those moments,” Edwards said.

FAU (1-4, 0-2) trailed ULM 12-0 at halftime, but the team dug out of its hole during most of the second half, thanks to a pair of Alfred Morris touchdowns to give the Owls a 17-12 lead with 10:26 remaining in the game.

After Edwards’ touchdown, Florida Atlantic had one more chance to answer and retake the lead, but failed to convert on first down to seal the ULM victory.

“We had three games out there,” FAU head coach Howard Schnellenberger said. “The first one was the first half and it was a game that we didn’t compete very solidly either way. The second one was coming out in the third quarter and carrying the fight to them and forging ahead. The last part we couldn’t keep control of the ball in that situation and we gave them the opportunity to beat us and they did. So it’s a very disheartening thing for us because we played this team hard and messed up on occasion and had a chance to win.”

The win now evens up things in the Sun Belt for ULM, with road games against Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee coming up in the next two weeks. The Warhawks will return to Malone Stadium on Oct. 30 to face the Troy Trojans for Homecoming.