TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — For the third year in a row, the Gyrenes have taken down a ranked opponent, beating #25 Florida College 102-96. Ave Maria was hot from downtown hitting 16 threes from beyond the arc.

Florida College started off hot, hitting seven of their first nine shots to jump out to an 11-point lead over the Gyrenes. That would be the largest lead of the night for either team and it did not last long. Ave Maria stormed back hitting three three-pointers in a span of 51 seconds to close the gap to two points.

Three minutes later, Nick Filchner hit the sixth trey of the half for AMU and put AMU in front 24-22.

The lead bounced between the two teams for the next seven minutes, with neither side getting more than two possessions ahead of the other.

With just a little over four minutes left in the opening half, Jaylen White connected on the Gyrenes 10th three-pointer to tie the game up 45. After a missed shot from the Falcons, Jonathan Effertz hit the 11th and final three of the half to give Ave Maria the lead. The Gyrenes would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game, not letting Florida College get the advantage in the second half.

A couple of free throws and jumpers brought the half to a close with the Gyrenes on top 54-51. It is the sixth half this season the Gyrenes eclipsed 50 points, something they did only four times last season. A big factor in hitting that mark was connecting on 11 shots from beyond the arc. It is the most threes in a half this season, passing the previous of high of 10 against Stillman.

In the second half, Ave Maria cooled down a bit from the arc, only hitting five in the closing half, but a steady diet of jumpers, good free throws, and lock down defense kept the Gyrenes in front the whole time. The Falcons never got closer than three points within the Gyrenes.

In the final minute of the game, White hit two shots from the charity stripe to push Ave Maria pass 100 points for the second time this season, tying their mark from last season of triple digit scores.

Filchner led the team with 24 points while Jack Watkins and Effertz also got into double digits with 16 and 15 points respectively. Seven different players hit a three in the contest with Filchner and Effertz both hitting four to tie for the lead on the team.

Through five games, the Gyrenes are averaging 97.6 points per game, which is on pace for being the highest scoring team in Ave Maria history. They are also on pace to make the most threes in school history, averaging 12.2 per game.

With the win, the Gyrenes improve to 5-0. AMU does not have a lot of time to celebrate the win though as they turn around and take on Florida Gulf Coast in an exhibition the next day, Friday, November 10, at Alico Arena in Fort Myers. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

The next game that will count towards their record is Tuesday, November 14, when the Gyrenes play their first home game of the season against the Johnson Suns. That game can be caught on the Sun Digital Network.

A note for Gyrene basketball fans: season tickets for AMU games are available! Click here for more information!