WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team ended the regular season on Saturday evening, falling 79-76 to the Keiser University Seahawks at the Student Life Center in West Palm Beach. The Gyrenes ended the regular season with a 19-10 record and a 13-7 mark in Sun Conference play, and will be the number two seed in next week's Sun Conference Tournament. The second place finish is Ave Maria's best-ever regular season finish in program history

The Gyrenes got off to a quick start, leading 7-1 just over two minutes into the game. Keiser responded with a 10-2 run, taking their first lead at 11-9. The Seahawks would continue to play well in the opening frame, building the game's biggest lead, 30-18, with 7:13 remaining in the half. From that point on, Ave Maria outscored Keiser 20-7 for the rest of the half, with a layup from Matt Gillis giving AMU a 38-37 lead entering the halftime break.

For the final 15 minutes of the game, neither team led by more than four points. In that span, the lead changed hands seven times, and the game was tied five times. In the closing moments, Keiser took the lead on two Marko Radulovic free throws with 1:26, then extended the lead to three on a Quinton Glaspie layup with 30 seconds left. AMU had three chances in the final 30 seconds to tie the game or take the lead, but missed two shots and turned the ball over once.

Keiser's major advantage in the win came in the paint, as the Seahawks outscored the Gyrenes 34-24 in the paint and shot 51.4 percent from two-point territory. Conversely, Ave Maria shot better from three-point territory (38.7 percent) than two-point territory (38.5 percent). While neither team shot the ball particularly well from long range, both teams knocked down at leasr ten threes - 12 for Ave Maria and ten for Keiser.

Eric Klekas scored all 18 of his points in the second half to lead  the Gyrenes. Chayse Culpepper, Lucas Uzdavinis, and Jose Sanchez all had 15 points, with Sanchez adding 12 rebounds to post a double-double. The top two scorers in the game came from Keiser, as Radulovic had 22 points and CoreVon Lott scored 21.

As the number two seed in The Sun Conference Tournament, the Gyrenes will host seventh-seeded Florida Memorial in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night. That game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy gymnasium. 

The winner of the fourth meeting of the year between the Gyrenes and the Lions will advance to the conference semifinals, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed. AMU could host those semifinals with a win and a Warner loss to Southeastern. The winner of the conference tournament will earn a bid to the NAIA National Tournament, with Ave Maria earning an automatic bid should Warner, the regular season champion, win the tournament as well.