AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team made a school record 25 three-pointers on Thursday night, and rolled to a 104-65 victory over the College of Coastal Georgia at the Tom Golisano Field House. The Gyrenes shot a mind-numbing 59.5 percent from three-point territory, and shattered the previous school record of 19 made threes.

Ave Maria's three-point shooting barrage began immediately, as the Gyrenes made four three-pointers in the opening three minutes of the game to open up a 12-0 lead. AMU never trailed in the contest, and led by at least five points for all but 1:17 on the night. The Gyrenes took full control after leading 18-13 with 11:56 on the clock, outscoring the Mariners 33-11 from that point on to halftime. The extended run gave Ave Maria a 51-24 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The Gyrenes shot 63 percent from the field in the first half, and made 13 of 20 three-point attempts to log a 65 percent mark from long distance. Greenan Sullivan and Lucas Uzdavinis led all scorers with eleven points each. Coastal Georgia's scoring was spread out among six players, who all logged between two and six points. Austin Dukes was the leader of the Mariner group with six points. 

Leo Behrend completely took over in the second half, and reached a major milestone in the process. The Honorable Mention All-American scored 21 points in a span of eight minutes, putting up 31 points on the night. With a three-pointer at the 14:30 mark, Behrend reached the 1000 point mark in his two-year career at Ave Maria. 

Other than Behrend, the Gyrenes continued to shoot the ball at a record-setting clip. AMU made 12 more threes in the second half, and shot 54.5 percent from the field as well as from long distance. Behrend and Marcus Montalvo combined to shoot 90 percent from long distance in the final 20 minutes, as Behrend was a perfect 5-for-5 while the freshman made four of his five attempts. 

For the game, the Gyrenes made 25 threes on 42 attempts, and even shot better from long distance (59.5 percent) than from two-point range (55.6 percent). The Gyrenes made as many three-pointers (25) as Coastal Georgia made total field goals. Six players made at least one three-pointer, and four different players made four or more. 

Behrend's 31 points led all scorers, and three other Gyrenes were in double figures. Montalvo scored 23 points, while Sullivan and Uzdavinis made one more three-pointer to finish the night with 14 points. Dukes led four double figure scorers for the Mariners with 17 points. Vidmantas Kaciuska (12), Antavious Howard (11),     Elijah Goodman (11) were also north of ten points in the losing effort.

AMU, who is now 7-3 in conference play, will host Thomas University at the Tom Golisano Field House on Saturday afternoon. The Gyrenes defeated Thomas on November 21 on the road, and have won three consecutive games in the series after losing five in a row. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.