AVE MARIA, Fla. --- It took extra time but the Ave Maria men's basketball team defeated the Thomas Night Hawks 75-72 in overtime on Thursday night in front of a packed house to improve to 17-8 overall and to 10-5 in Sun Conference play.
 
With the win, Ave Maria has earned its first Sun Conference Tournament bid since the conference reduced the number of teams that qualified to postseason play from all ten to six prior to the 2015-16 season.
 
A back-and-forth game throughout found the Gyrenes in front by five late in the second half after a three by Romello Bates with 3:21 to play. After Thomas tied the game with 1:49 to play, Nemanja Brankov converted a lay-up off a pass from Bates to put AMU in front by two.
 
The Night Hawks tied the game with just under a minute to play and after a stop, had a chance to win take the lead. Ave Maria came up with the stop and rebound and a desperation half court heave by Caelen Watts just rimmed out at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
 
In the extra frame, Thomas converted baskets on two of their first three possession only to see the Gyrenes match them with jumpers by Bates and Brankov. With 2:01 to play, Bates made a floater in the paint to give AMU a 72-70 edge.
 
Following a Thomas miss and AMU rebound on the ensuing possession, a quick foul by the Night Hawks followed by deadball technical fouls on both teams put the Gyrenes in the bonus and sent Brankov to the free throw line. The sophomore center made one-of-two to give the Blue and Green a three point lead.
 
AMU extended their lead to five on a Brankov layup with 55 seconds to play but Thomas wouldn't go away and cut the lead to one possession with a quick layup going the other way. Thomas had a couple chances to tie the game in the final minute but wouldn't see anything fall as AMU held on for the win.
 
Brankov and Bates scored all nine of the Gyrenes' points in the overtime period. Bates finished with 17 on the night while Brankov finished with seven, five of which came in OT. Bates also finished with six assists and five rebounds.
 
Greenan Sullivan scored a team-high 19 points on five made threes and Watts added 16 for the Gyrenes.
 
Both teams shot at a high-percentage throughout the night. AMU shot 50 percent from the field in the first  half that helped them to a 39-38 halftime lead. The two teams each made seven threes in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Ave Maria finished the night shooting nearly 45 percent from the field and 39 percent from three with 12 made three-pointers. Thomas shot the ball at a 48 percent clip and was 9-of-15 from three.
 
In total, the game was tied four times and featured nine lead changes. The largest lead held by either team was nine, held by the Gyrenes with 2:46 to play in the opening half.
 
At halftime of the game, the Gyrene athletic department presented the Ave Maria football team with their Mid-South Sun Division Conference Championship rings.
 
The AMU men's basketball team concludes their regular season home schedule on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest with Coastal Georgia. Prior to the match-up, the Gyrenes will recognize their graduating seniors.