AVE MARIA, Fla. --- Trailing by 16 at the half, the Ave Maria men's basketball team pulled within five late in the second half before Johnson & Wales was able to make its free throws to close out the game, 67-55. The Gyrenes fall to 5-4 overall and to 0-2 in Sun Conference action.
 
Brandon Pasker led the Blue and Green with 18 points and seven rebounds on the night. He finished seven-of-eight from the floor. Jelani Bonner chipped in 12 points and grabbed a team-high nine boards in the loss. Brandon Barnes added eight points in 10 minutes of action.
 
After a close opening ten minutes, Johnson & Wales connected eight first half three-pointers to finish the first half on a 20-6 run and put the Gyrenes in a 42-23 hole at the break. The Wildcats shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the first half compared to 42 percent by the Blue and Green.
 
After Johnson & Wales extended its lead to a game-high 20 points early in the second half, AMU got a layup and one from Bonner, a three by Jonathan Pohlgeers and a layup from Pasker all in 47 seconds to quickly bring the Blue and Green to within 12, 45-33.
 
The Gyrenes continued to chip away at the Wildcats lead when Pasker made a jumper to pull AMU within five, 55-50, with 4:21 to play in the game. The Blue and Green kept the deficit at five with a Exor Torres jumper with 1:34 to play by but Johnson & Wales made 19-of-21 from the free throw line including 14-of-16 in the second half to finish off the game.
 
Jumaoke Smith finished five-of-six from three to lead JWU with 15 points on the night. Like Walters recorded 14 points and finished six-of-six from the charity stripe for the Wildcats.
 
Ave Maria will return to action on Sunday afternoon when they host the College of Coastal Georgia at 4 p.m.