AVE MARIA, Fla. --- Trailing by seven at the break, a second half surge by St. Thomas was too much for the Gyrenes to overcome as the Ave Maria men's basketball team fell to St. Thomas on Thursday night, 64-44.
 
The Blue and Green drop to 7-7 overall and to 0-3 in Sun Conference play as they now prepare for a battle against second-ranked and unbeaten Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach on Saturday.
 
Brandon Pasker recorded a season-high 14 rebounds to go with 10 points for his first double-double as a Gyrene. Exor Torres led the Blue and Green with 13 points. Julian Adams chipped in six points and eight rebounds while Brandon Barnes added eight points.
 
The Gyrenes shot 39.5 percent from the field compared to 43.2 percent by St. Thomas. The game was ultimately decided at the free throw line where St. Thomas made 23 from the charity stripe compared to five from the Gyrenes. The Bobcats also held the edge in turnovers with 14 compared to 25 by AMU.
 
It was a back and forth game in the beginning with Ave Maria holding a slim 10-9 lead at the 12:03 mark of the first half after a Pasker jumper. But St. Thomas would then go on an 11-0 run to take a 20-10 lead with 7:26 to play in the half. The Gyrenes got the deficit back to four late in the half but went into the break trailing by seven, 28-21.
 
St. Thomas pushed the lead back out to double-figures in the opening minutes of the second half and the Gyrenes would be unable to cut the deficit back to single-digits for the remainder of the game.
 
After the lead increased to 19 with 13:33 remaining, AMU was able to get it back down to 14 on a couple occasions but weren't able to get any closer.
 
Chuckie Becton led St. Thomas with 16 points. Lorel added 12 points for the Bobcats while Mikon Hewitt and David Santiago each chipped in nine points.