AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team bounced back from a slow first half, and won The Sun Conference Game of the Week with a 67-63 victory over the Thomas University Night Hawks at the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Thomas led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but the Gyrenes held the Night Hawks to 23 points in the second half to complete the comeback.

Not much went right for the Gyrenes in the first half, as Thomas led by as many as 14 points en route to a 40-29 halftime lead. Thomas' half included a 13-2 run that gave the Night Hawks a 27-14 lead with 9:54 to play. TU's 14-point lead came at the 1:18 mark of the first half, following a made free throw from Desean Enzor. A three-pointer from Eric Klekas cut the lead down to eleven, supplying the halftime score of 40-29.

Thomas shot 53.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, and forced ten Ave Maria turnovers to build their double digit lead. Enzor was the high scorer for the Night Hawks, scoring ten points. The Gyrenes were not bad from the field (44.4 percent), but made just three of their 13 three-point attempts. All these of those makes belonged to Klekas, who led all scorers with eleven.

The Gyrenes didn't waste much time in getting back in the game, going on a 10-0 run to get within three points with 15:02 to play. Although AMU was in it the rest of the way, Thomas did not surrender the lead until a Lucas Uzdavinis jumper with 2:48 left tied the game at 58. The Night Hawks and Gyrenes traded three pointers, then traded misses until there was less than a minute to play. 

With 38 seconds left, Fernando Salsamendi drove baseline and threw down a thunderous dunk to give AMU their first lead since it was 8-7 at 63-61. A Jose Sanchez steal and two Salsamendi free throws extended the lead to four, and two Sanchez free throws with ten seconds left essentially sealed the win for Ave Maria.

Ave Maria, who held Thomas to a 32.1 shooting percentage in the second half, was led by 17 points from Lucas Uzdavinis. Klekas and Sanchez each added 14 points, while Chayse Culpepper scored ten points and Salsamendi posted a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.Three Night Hawks were in double figures - Enzor (14), Toriano Lewis (11), and Trint Bryant (10).

With the win, the Gyrenes remain in sole possession of second place in The Sun Conference, two games behind first place Warner. The win also ensured that AMU will finish the regular season with a winning record  for the third year in a row.

Each of Ave Maria's next three games will be away from home, starting on Thursday night against the Lions of Florida Memorial University. AMU will be going for a three-game sweep of FMU, earning victories on November 18 and January 23. Tipoff in Miami Gardens is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., following the women's game between the schools.