Box Score LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting night, and fell 83-58 to the Southeastern University Fire in Lakeland. The Gyrenes made just three of their 17 three-point attempts, and allowed Southeastern to shoot 53.7 percent from the field in the second meeting of the season between the teams.

Southeastern led from the first minute of the game on, and led 6-1 less than three minutes into the game. The Gyrenes hung around for the first ten minutes of the game, trailing just 21-16 with 11:04 to play in the half after a three-pointer from Gianpaolo Riccio. The Fire broke the game open in the final six minutes of the half, going on a 16-4 run to take a 49-28 lead into halftime.

The second half was played relatively evenly, with Southeastern only outscoring the Gyrenes by a 34-30 margin. Southeastern's lead grew as large as 33 points, a 71-38 advantage with 9:41 to play. Ave Maria closed the game on a run, outscoring the Fire 20-12 over the final quarter or so of the contest.

Three Gyrenes recorded a double figure scoring day in the losing effort. Riccio led the way with 21 points, while Nemanja Brankov and Stevan Krusevac each added 11 points. Brankov also pulled down eleven rebounds to record a double-double for the Gyrenes. Each of Ave Maria's starters played at least 30 minutes, and all eight Gyrenes that played entered the scoring column.

Southeastern was led offensively by Josiah Barsh, who hit three three-pointers and connected on nine of twelve shots to log 21 points. Five other Fire players scored ten or more points, with four scoring exactly ten. Ryan Atkins, who was second on the team with 12 points, led Southeastern with eight rebounds.

Ave Maria is on the road twice in the upcoming week, which begins with a game against Thomas University on Thursday night. Tipoff in Thomasville is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.