AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria University men's basketball team started the 2022-23 season off right with an 80-68 win over the Trinity Baptist Eagles. The Gyrenes had four players score double digits in the game and shot 47.7% from the field.
The Eagles started off hot in the opening minutes of the game and led the Gyrenes 11-6 just three minutes in. However, Ave Maria stormed back and made sure that would be the largest lead of the night for Trinity Baptist. The Gyrenes tied the score at 11 with a Matt Gillis three-pointer and then took a three-point lead on the following possession with a Gillis layup and-one. Ave Maria held onto the lead for a good five minutes, but at the halfway point of the first half, the Eagles knotted things up at 20.
The lead then changed three times in the span of a minute, with the Eagles leading 25-24 after four straight scoring possessions between the two squads. The Gyrenes grabbed the lead back a minute later with a Miles Monchecourt layup and then never trailed again in the game.
When the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half, the Gyrenes took a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
Ave Maria came out of halftime hot and started to pile on Trinity Baptist, jumping out to a nine-point lead in the first three minutes. The Eagles tried to come back, but the closest they could pull within the Gyrenes was three points before Ave Maria started laying on the buckets again. Around the midway point of the second half, Ave Maria put together their largest run, outscoring Trinity Baptist 8-0 with back-to-back threes from Miles Monchecourt and Houston Culpepper followed by a layup from Michael Klekas.
The Gyrenes got their largest lead of the night when Sean Klekas hit two free-throws to make the score 80-60 with a little over two minutes left on the clock. The Eagles closed the game out with an 8-0 run of their own, but it was too little, too late as the Gyrenes walked away with the win.
AMU had four players score double digits from a mix of old and fresh faces. Veterans Jose Sanchez and Klajd Kiri scored 15 and 14 points respectively while newcomers Monchecourt and Houston Culpepper scored 12 and 11, respectively. Monchecourt is a sophomore transfer from Seton Hill in Pennsylvania and Culpepper is a freshman from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who joins his brother Chayse Culpepper on the team.
The Gyrenes went 7-for-25 from three-point land for a shooting percentage of .280, which was a little lower than their percentage from last year, .366. Monchecourt and Jonathan Effertz both hit two threes, while Gillis, Lucas Uzdavinis, and Culpepper each hit one. With his one three-pointer, Uzdavinis continues to set the record for three-pointers made in a career at Ave Maria now with 223.
The Gyrenes will be on the road for the next three games, traveling up to Michigan to take on the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils and Madonna Crusaders next weekend and then going up to Babson Park to open conference play with the Webber Warriors. The Gyrenes' next home game is November 12 when Ave Maria will take on the Southeastern Fire.
