FT. MYERS, Fla. --- The Ave Maria men's basketball team kept NCAA DI Florida Gulf Coast to 12 first half points and held a 13-12 halftime lead before FGCU came from behind to defeat AMU 49-36 in an exhibition game on Friday night. AMU returns to the court on Monday night when they host Florida National at 7 p.m.
 
Exor Torres finished with a team-high 12 points. Jelani Bonner also finished in double figures with 11 points and grabbed a team-best five rebounds.
 
The Blue and Green shot 31.7 percent from the floor and were 3-of-18 from behind the arc. The AMU defense held FGCU to 21.1 percent shooting in the first half before the Eagles shot 77.3 percent in the second half to finish the game shooting at a 51.2 percent clip.
 
AMU forced 15 turnovers but were outrebounded 30-20 on the night.
 
The Gyrenes defense came out strong holding FGCU to under 10 points for the opening 13 minutes. During that time, AMU held the Eagles to 4-of-14 shooting from the floor and forced four turnovers.
 
Torres made his first three shots from the field, two from behind the arc, to help the Gyrenes to an early 13-7 lead. The Gyrenes were held scoreless for the final eight minutes of the half but the Blue and Green defense played tough to give AMU a 13-12 halftime advantage. Bonner added five first half points for the Blue and Green.
 
Both team scored on each of their first three possessions of the second half before FGCU took its first lead of the game, 21-19, at the 17:14 mark in the second half. With the Gyrenes trailing 23-22, FGCU went on a 14-0 run over nearly ten minutes to push the AMU deficit to 37-22.
 
After a pair of free throws by Julian Adams, Brandon Barnes hit a three and Brandon Pasker made a jumper to bring Ave back to within 10, 41-31, with 3:24 remaining in the game. The Eagles went on to defeat the Gyrenes 49-36.