AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria men's basketball team ended the game on a 19-4 run to pull away from the visiting Warriors of Webber International, 79-66, on Thursday night. With the win, the Gyrenes improve to 2-1 against Sun Conference opponents and to 4-11 overall.
 
Brandon Dean led the Blue and Green with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Dean finished 6-for-6 from the field including a perfect 3-for-3 from three. He was 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
 
Martez Harris finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Nate Krimsky added 18 points and five rebounds. Exor Torres had 13 points to go along with four steals.
 
The Gyrenes shot 45 percent from the field and were 7-of-18 from behind the arc. AMU made 14 of their 18 free throw attempts. Webber made 39 percent of their shots and made seven threes. The Warriors were just 7-of-12 from the free throw line.
 
Daniel Coffey led Webber with 17 points. Ronzell Evans finished with a double-double for Webber with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The teams went back-and-forth in the opening half, with the lead changing ten times. Webber had the largest lead in the opening 20 minutes, going on a 6-0 spurt to take a 32-24 lead with 4:02 to play in the half. AMU rallied to tie the game at 37-37 before a tip in at the buzzer gave Webber a two point advantage going into the break.
 
Nate Krimsky made a jumper and Brandon Dean hit a three on the Gyrenes' first two possessions of the second half to regain the lead for AMU. The teams continued to trade baskets before Webber was able to build a six point edge, 62-56.
 
Then the Gyrene defense stepped up and sparked a 12-0 run spanning five minutes late in the half to give the Blue and Green a 68-62 lead with 3:17 to play. Leading 68-64 with 3:05 to go and three seconds on the shot clock, Krimsky nailed a three off an inbound pass that seemed to be a dagger in the Warriors hopes. AMU would go on to lead by as many as 15 before the final buzzer sounded with the Gyrenes on top 79-66.
 
Ave Maria returns to action on Saturday when they welcome Johnson & Wales to Tom Golisano Field House for a 4 p.m. start.