AVE MARIA, Fla. - The Ave Maria University men's basketball team upset the 17th-ranked team in the nation, the Southeastern Fire, Saturday afternoon at Donahue Gym, 79-76. It was a back-and-forth game that had 11 lead changes between the two squads.

Southeastern started the game very hot from three-point land. After getting a free throw for their first point of the game, the Fire hit five three-pointers out of six attempts in the first seven minutes of the game, from five different players. Every Fire player was feeling good from behind the arc in the early parts of the game. Finally, after seven minutes had passed, SEU finally made their first two-point bucket off a layup from Joshua Blazquez off a fast break.

Fortunately, the Gyrenes were able to keep up with the Fire through that run of threes by hitting a couple of their own, making layups and cashing in on free throws. Both teams were knotted up at 20 after eight minutes of play.

As the first half went on, the Fire continued to shoot well from behind the arc and forced the Gyrenes to also take those shots to stay in the game. Southeastern ended the half, shooting 9-for-17 from downtown with Ave Maria was 6-for-12. 

The first half ended with a big four-point swing. Southeastern's Mykhailo Yagodin hit a big three with 29 seconds left in the half to give the Fire a 47-45 lead. Ave Maria then called a timeout and tried to gameplan their final shot so they could go into the locker room leading or at least tied at the half. Freshman Jonathan Effertz let time tick down then tried to drive in for a layup but was ultimately blocked by Jalan Mull with four seconds left on the clock. SEU's Sean Shore grabbed the rebound and went the whole length of the court making a layup at the buzzer to give the Fire a four-point lead at halftime.

The second half was completely different from the first half. A combination of Southeastern going cold from three-point land and smothering defense from the Gyrenes led to Ave Maria taking control of the game. 

SEU got two free throws to start the half but then the Gyrenes went on an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead. The Fire ended the streak with a layup to tie the game up at 55.

Southeastern tried to regain their lead by shooting from beyond the arc, but the touch they had in the first half wasn't there and the Fire went cold. The Gyrenes on the other were hitting both two and three-point shots and built up an 11-point lead midway through the second half. That was the largest lead either team would own.

Unfortunately, Ave Maria wasn't out of the woods yet. The Fire scratched and clawed their way back into the lead, going on a 16-2 run over the course of seven minutes and taking a 72-69 lead with three and a half minutes left to play. SEU went 0-for-3 on three's during that run, abandoning that shot once they realized the magic was gone.

The Gyrenes were not ready to give up though. The final lead change came with 1:05 left on the clock when Matt Gillis hit a layup to give the AMU a 75-74 lead. The Gyrenes then tightened up on defense for the last minute and didn't let Southeastern get any good looks at the basket until they hit a layup at the end of the game. Ave Maria made their free throws at the end of the game to secure the victory and walked off the court with a 79-76 win over a top 25 opponent. 

Southeastern went 0-for-15 from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes of the game while the Gyrenes went 3-for-9 meaning both teams ended with 9 three-pointers. That ties a season high for the Gyrenes who hit nine three's in their loss to the Madonna Crusaders a week earlier. 

Gillis was the leading point scorer for AMU with 24 points. He also recorded a double-double, bringing down 10 rebounds. It's the first double-double of the season for Ave Maria. Effertz was the only other shooter to score in double digits for the Gyrenes, scoring 21 points. Klajd Kiri recorded his third straight game with three blocks and leads the team with 10 on the season. 

With the win, Ave Maria improves to 3-1 and 1-0 in conference play. The Gyrenes now also have two wins in a row over ranked opponents, with both being coincidentally against the Southeastern Fire. The ranked win before this one was an 84-64 over an SEU team ranked 18th in the SUN Semifinal Game. 

The Gyrenes next game is Sunday, November 13, in an exhibition against NCAA DI opponent Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.  Following that exhibition, the Gyrenes begin a three-game home stand starting Thursday, November 17, against the Thomas Night Hawks.