AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team could not dig themselves out of a major first half hole Thursday night, and suffered their first Sun Conference defeat of the season, 70-58, at the hands of the Thomas University Night Hawks. The Gyrenes trimmed a 28-point deficit all the way down to ten in the second half, but could come no closer on a cold shooting night at Donahue Gym in Ave Maria.

The Gyrenes found themselves trailing from nearly the opening tip, as Thomas scored on their second possession of the night and never relinquished the lead. Thomas opened up a 9-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes, and would continue that momentum into what would prove to be a 48-26 halftime lead. Thomas made eight three-pointers and shot 52.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while AMU was severely hampered by 18 turnovers.

Thomas' lead would continue to grow early in the second half, as the Night Hawks hit two three-pointers in the first three minutes to claim their largest lead of the day, 54-26. From there, the Gyrenes would outscore Thomas 32-16 over the final 16 minutes and change, but would run out of time to make a serious comeback attempt. Despite outscoring the Nighthawks 32-22, the Gyrenes made just three of 21 three-point attempts, with Vince Ventulan making two of those three.

Ventulan was the lone Gyrene in double figures Thursday night, hitting five of his six shots en route to 13 points. Klajd Kiri narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds, while Matt Gillis did the same with seven points and nine rebounds. As a team, the Gyrenes shot just 18.8 percent from three-point territory, with just six of 32 attempts falling through the rim. AMU did outrebound the Night Hawks in the losing effort, pulling down 49 rebounds to 38 for Thomas.

Ave Maria will look to get back on track Saturday afternoon, playing the nightcap of a doubleheader against the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia. The Gyrenes and Mariners tend to play high-scoring games, with the victorious team scoring at least 80 points in each of the last eight meetings. Ave Maria swept last season's series with victories of 98-85 in Brunswick and 84-74 in Ave Maria. Tipoff between the Gyrenes and the Mariners is slated for 4:00 p.m. at Donahue Gym.