AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team suffered their first conference loss of the 2020 season on Monday evening, falling 82-80 to the Warriors of Webber International University. The Gyrenes led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but narrowly fell as Ave Maria and Webber saw their contest decided by three points or less for the third time in four matchups.
In the first half, the Warriors got off to the better start, opening up a 16-10 lead in the opening six minutes. Ave Maria responded with their biggest run of the night, going on a 20-5 run to open up a 30-21 lead. The Gyrenes had a 12-point lead with 1:05 remaining in the half, but consecutive three-pointers from Deante Green and Rasheem Etienne allowed Webber to cut the Ave Maria lead down to six, 43-37, at halftime.
Ave Maria's first half lead was powered by AMU's edge on the glass. The Gyrenes outrebounded the Warriors 25-10 in the opening 20 minutes, including offensive rebounds on eight of AMU's 15 misses. Ave Maria's scoring was spread around, with four players between seven and 12 points. Matt Gills led the way in the first half, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Webber's leading scorer was Kris Goettert, who was the top scorer in the first half with 14 points.
Despite trailing by as many as eight early in the second half, Webber rallied to take the lead at 61-60 with 9:21 on the clock. From that point, neither team would lead by more than four points until the final moments of the contest. With the game tied at 74, Webber's Terrance Lakes made a layup to give the Warriors the lead. After one made free throw from AMU and two misses from Webber, Ave Maria's opportunity to retake the lead ended with a turnover, followed by four consecutive made free throws from the Warriors.
AMU ended the contest with a 43-25 edge in rebounding, which included 12 offensive rebounds. Unfortunately for the Gyrenes, that was offset by 23 turnovers, which led to 30 points for the Warriors. The Gyrenes shot better than 50 percent from the field (53.6 percent) and from beyond the three-point arc (52.6 percent), while Webber shot 41.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from long distance.
Matt Gillis led Ave Maria with 20 points, leading five Gyrenes in double figures. Eric Klekas added 19 points, while Vince Ventulan had 13 points and a game-high seven assists. Klekas and Ventulan both played all 40 minutes for Ave Maria. Both Gillis and Joseph Hahnenberg had double-doubles for AMU, with Gillis pulling down ten rebounds and Hahnenberg posting ten points and 12 rebounds. Jose Sanchez narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Gyrenes will look to bounce back this weekend with two games in Georgia. The roadtrip starts Thursday, when Ave Maria travels to Thomasville for a meeting with the Night Hawks of Thomas University. The end of the trip will see AMU in Brunswick taking on the College of Coastal Georgia Mariners on Saturday afternoon.
