AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team moved to 5-4 in The Sun Conference on Saturday evening with an 87-76 victory over the Bobcats of St. Thomas University. With the win, the Gyrenes move into a four-way tie for third place in the league, along with St. Thomas, Thomas, and Coastal Georgia. Ave Maria's fifth conference win ties the most in the program for an entire season in the last six years.

Ave Maria led for the majority of the contest despite surrendering the first five points of the game. The Gyrenes took their first lead of the game just over seven minutes in on a pair of Gianpaolo Riccio free throws, 11-9. AMU built a six-point lead before St. Thomas rallied to tie the game at 21. From there, Ave Maria went on an 8-0 run, and led by as many as 10 points before taking a 37-30 lead into the halftime break.

The AMU lead was aided by eight St. Thomas turnovers in the first half. Both teams shot nearly 50 percent from the field, with the Bobcats shooting 48 percent (12-for-25) and the Gyrenes making 14 of their 30 shots (46.7 percent). Romello Bates was perfect from the field during the opening 20 minutes of play, making all five of his shots to log a game-high eleven points in the first half. 

Both teams picked up the pace offensively in the second half, as the Gyrenes outscored the Bobcats 50-46. Ave Maria shot 59.3 percent from the field and made 8 of their 15 three-point attempts, while St. Thomas made 57.1 percent of their shots and nine of their 15 tries from three-point range. The Bobcats got within four points early in the second half, but never came closer than five points in the final 17 minutes of play. Leo Behrend was on fire for the Gyrenes in the second half, scoring 16 points on just five shots.

Behrend led the way for the Gyrenes in the victory, scoring 24 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Riccio added 22 points, while Romello Bates recorded a double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds. Bates also added six steals and recorded his fourth ten-assist performance of the season. Only two players in AMU history had recorded a single ten-assist game entering the season. Justin Brown was the top scorer for the Bobcats, putting up 21 points.

AMU enters the second half of The Sun Conference schedule on Thursday with a road game against the Warriors of Webber International University. The Gyrenes will tip off against the Warriors at 7:30 p.m. in Babson Park before returning home for a showdown with nationally ranked Warner University on Saturday.