LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team came up one shot short on Thursday night, as the Gyrenes dropped a 75-72 decision to the Southeastern University Fire at the Furnace in Lakeland. The Gyrenes, who played their 14th game decided by six points or less this season, nearly erased an eleven-point deficit in the final three and a half minutes of the game.

The first half saw the Gyrenes jump out to a nine-point lead, 22-13, in the first nine and a half minutes of the contest. Southeastern responded with a 17-5 run to take a 30-27 lead, a lead that would last until the final seconds of the first half. Fernando Salsamendi knocked down a jumper with six seconds left in the first half, tying the game at 38 entering the halftime break.

After another jumper from Salsamendi gave Ave Maria a 40-38 lead to start the second half, the Fire went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. The Fire would lead for the remainder of the second half, and led by as many as 14 points with 10:48 to go. 

Despite trailing by 11 by 3:29 to go, the Gyrenes would not go away, storming back by forcing five SEU turnovers in the final three minutes. AMU got the Southeastern lead all the way down to three with 39 seconds left, then got a stop to get one final chance. That chance went halfway down before rimming out, keeping SEU on top.

Southeastern hit 12 three-pointers in the win, which marked just the second time in this calendar year in which the Fire hit that many long distance shots. Riley Matticks and Karl Jeanty combined to make seven of those 12 three-pointers, with both scoring 16 points for the Fire.

Matt Gillis was the game's leading scorer, as the sophomore scored 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Eric Klekas added 17 points, while Salsamendi posted 14 points. Off the bench, Jose Sanchez had 12 points and six rebounds. While the Fire made nearly 40 percent of their three-point tries, the Gyrenes were held to 7 of 24, good for 29.2 percent.

AMU did get some good news on Thursday, as a Keiser loss to St. Thomas ensured the Gyrenes would finish no worse than second in The Sun Conference. However, a Warner win over Thomas dropped AMU into second place with one game to go. AMU will need a win in the season finale, coupled with a Warner loss, to win the regular season conference championship.

That season finale comes Saturday afternoon in West Palm Beach against the Keiser University Seahawks. The Gyrenes will be going for a season sweep over Keiser, as AMU holds two home victories on November 14 and January 18. Tipoff on the Keiser University campus will come 30 minutes after the conclusion of the men's game between the schools.