It was a tale of two halves for Western Kentucky on Friday night.

After scoring 41 points in the first half and leading by 11 at halftime, the Hilltoppers scored just 28 points in the second half – while being outscored by 13 – and suffered a heartbreaking 71-69 loss to Old Dominion in the first of a two-game Conference USA series at E.A. Diddle Arena.

"Give Old Dominion credit," WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. "They made the plays in the second half. I don't think we flowed the same way."

WKU (17-6 overall, 10-3 C-USA) was up 41-30 at the break, but ODU caught fire in the second half – opening the frame with a momentum-swinging 17-2 run to cut its deficit down to one – and later led for the final 1:32 of the game. The Hilltoppers got within 70-69 with nine seconds left and had a chance to win, but Dayvion McKnight’s short jumper just before the buzzer didn’t fall.

The Hilltoppers shot 40% from the field, made five 3-pointers, missed nine free throws and committed 13 turnovers. Charles Bassey led the way with 23 points and 15 rebounds – his 15th double-double of the season – and Taveion Hollingsworth and Jordan Rawls each had 12 points.

The Monarchs (15-6, 11-4) – led by 25 points from Malik Curry – shot 46% from the floor, made seven 3s and committed 10 turnovers.

The two teams will meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday at Diddle Arena in the regular-season finale – and with the C-USA East Division title on the line.

"We're playing for the same thing tomorrow," Hollingsworth said. "We need to come out the same we did today and keep it up."

WKU couldn’t have asked for a better start.

After winning the opening tipoff, Hollingsworth quickly drove inside, scored, was fouled and completed the three-point play just 12 seconds into the game. Rawls then made a 3-pointer just 24 seconds later to make it an early 6-0 lead not even a full minute in.

The Hilltoppers extended their advantage to 13-5 and were soon up 19-8 at the 13:01 mark of the first half, but Old Dominion got hot and went on a 9-0 run – started by an A.J. Oliver 3 – to get within 19-17 at the 11:15 mark.

WKU put together a quick 6-0 surge to make it 26-19 with 9:15 remaining in the half, and back-to-back 3s by Rawls and Hollingsworth had the Tops leading 36-26 before they were up 41-30 at the break.

Curry scored on back-to-back possessions to cut ODU’s deficit to 43-36 – and then knocked down back-to-back 3s to make it just a one-point WKU lead at 45-44 at the 14:42 mark of the second half.

Another ODU triple – this one from Oliver – put it up 52-49 at the 11:26 mark, and a jumper by Curry with 7:59 remaining had WKU down 55-51.

"We just couldn't make enough plays that second half," Stansbury said. "They played loose. Curry became a one-man show."

Rawls completed a three-point play to make it a one-point contest, and soon netted a big 3 to put WKU back in front at 59-57 with 6:01 remaining.

Austin Trice’s tough score inside gave the Monarchs a 66-64 advantage with 1:32 left, and a pair of Curry free throws had ODU up four with 1:02 to go.

Hollingsworth’s fast-break layup with nine seconds left had WKU within 70-69, but the Hilltoppers’ final attempt right before the horn sounded didn’t go their way.

– Tyler Mansfield is the managing editor and primary Western Kentucky beat reporter for InsideHilltopperSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @RivalsMansfield. –