MONTGOMERY, Ala.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team finished off a sweep of the SUN-SSAC Challenge on Friday afternoon, rallying in the second half for a 68-66 victory over the Rams of the University of Mobile in Montgomery, Alabama. Ave Maria came back from a 14-point second half deficit to earn their ninth win of the season, while senior Lucas Uzdavinis made program history, becoming the seventh player to reach 1000 points in an Ave Maria uniform.
Despite needing to rally in the second half, it was Ave Maria that had the better start Friday afternoon. Jonathan Effertz scored ten of Ave Maria's first 21 points, helping the Gyrenes build a 21-13 lead just over ten minutes into the contest. Mobile responded with a 13-0 run to reclaim the lead, but the Gyrenes quickly closed the gap once again. The Rams went into the halftime break with momentum, scoring the final five points of the half to claim a 36-31 lead.
That five-point lead would widen in the first five minutes of the second half, as the Rams held leads of 45-31 and 48-34. The Gyrenes would gradually chip into the Mobile lead throughout the second half, finally pulling even for the first time in the half with 3:59 to go on a Houston Culpepper bucket. A bucket from Klajd Kiri on the next AMU possession gave the Gyrenes a lead they would never relinquish, as Ave Maria held off the Rams in the final minute.
With his three-pointer at the 14:37 mark of the second half, Uzdavinis hit 1,002 career points, becoming the eighth player - and second in as many years - to hit the 1,000 point mark at Ave Maria. Uzdavinis is already the school leader in three-pointers made, and is the final member of Ave Maria's 2018-19 Sun Conference championship team to remain active at AMU. Uzdavinis is one of six 1,000 point scorers to play at least part of their AMU career for head coach Jamon Copeland.
In Friday's win, the Gyrenes were once again led by a strong second half. The Gyrenes made 16 of their 27 field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes, shooting just under 60 percent from the field to boost their shooting percentage for the game to 50 percent. Ave Maria also held a major advantage in the paint, outscoring Mobile around the basket by a margin of 38-14.
Effertz proved to be Ave Maria's leading scorer in the win, as the freshman knocked down four three-pointers en route to a 20-point output. Klajd Kiri added another solid performance, scoring 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Matt Gillis was also in double figures for the second day in a row, scoring eleven points with seven rebounds.
Friday's game was Ave Maria's last of the calendar year, with Sun Conference resuming on the first Thursday of 2023. The Gyrenes will battle the St. Thomas University Bobcats at Donahue Gym, as part of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader. Tipoff of the men's game is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Ave Maria.
