NORTH MIAMI, Fla. --- The Ave Maria men's basketball team defeated Johnson & Wales 80-63 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 7-3 on the season and to 2-2 in Sun Conference play.
 
Gianpaolo Riccio led the Gyrenes with 28 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-10 from behind the three-point arc. He was 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Nemanja Brankov and Jovan Grujicic each finished with 12 points. Caelen Watts also finished in double-figures with 10 points.
 
The Gyrenes shot 46 percent from the field on the day and were 9-of-24 from three. AMU held Johnson & Wales to 38.3 percent from the floor. The Blue and Green outrebounded JWU 41-34.
 
With the game tied 6-6 early in the first half, a Bates layup and Riccio fast break three sparked a 14-2 run for AMU to give the Gyrenes a 20-8 edge. A few minutes later, a layup by Grujicic gave AMU its largest lead of the opening half, 26-12, with 6:40 to play. The Gyrenes maintained a double-digit lead for most of the half and went into the break with a 36-27 lead.
 
Johnson & Wales came out firing in the second half and cut the AMU lead to five just over a minute into the half. The Blue and Green responded with an 8-0. After a Grujicic score, Brankov scored the next six points for AMU to give them the 42-31 advantage.
 
The Wildcats wouldn't go away and made it a one-possession game, 44-41, with 13:19 remaining. The Gyrenes again responded to a JWU run with a spurt of their own, this time a 11-0 run to make it 55-43. AMU maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game and won by 17, 80-63.
 
Ave Maria returns to action on Tuesday when they take on Johnson University at 7:30 p.m.