AVE MARIA, Fla. — In their first ever meeting against future conference foe New College of Florida, the Ave Maria Gyrenes had their best game of the season and one the record books will remember for a long time. The Gyrenes beat the Mighty Banyans 117-76, scoring the second most points in a single game in school history.
In the first half, the Gyrenes were firing on all cylinders, shooting 50% from the field and hitting nine three pointers. Jonathan Effertz led the team from downtown in the first half, hitting four long shots. Jack Watkins and Mark Blaszczyk both hit multiple threes as well, connecting on two each.
AMU finished with 57 points in the first half. It was the 10th half this season the Gyrenes scored 50 or more points in a period.
The scoring kept coming out of halftime as the Gyrenes opened the second half with a 10-2 run started by two more threes, one from Effertz and one from Michael Klekas.
Ave Maria didn't stop and shot even better than they did in the first half with a shooting percentage of 68.8%. The Gyrenes were also better from behind the arc than they were in the first half, going 10-for-15 from downtown. Blaszczyk led the team in the second half from long range, hitting three of four to bring his game total to five. Effertz only hit one in the second half putting them tied for the team lead for the whole game.
With a little over five minutes remaining, Jack Poirier hit his first three to put the Gyrenes exactly at 100 points. It was the fifth time this season Ave Maria had hit triple digits on the scoreboard, setting a new school record. In the 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2019-20 seasons, AMU hit 100 or more points four times.
After Poirier's bucket, each of the following baskets was a march up the leaderboard for the Gyrenes. Ave Maria hit 17 points after that to finish the game 117 points, the second most in school history. The only game the Gyrenes scored more points was on January 17, 2012, against the Warner Royals.
Ave Maria also finished the game with 19 threes, tied for the second most in school history with two other games, most recently against Coastal Georgia on November 23, 2019.
Klekas led the team in scoring Monday night, putting up 26 points. Watkins and Effertz joined in the 20-point club with 22 and 20 respectively. Blaszczyk and Jaylen White also scored in double figures, putting up 15 and 10 respectively.
"I thought we did a really good job playing with pace, sharing the ball, not settling for okay shots but hunting for great ones" said head coach Jamon Copeland. "Typically, if we do these three things it results in a good night for us offensively. However, tonight we shot extremely well which is why we were so close to setting two school records."
The Gyrenes can't revel in their historic performance too long however as they pick up and take on the Florida National Conquistadors the next night. FNU upset the Gyrenes earlier this season and now Ave Maria is out for revenge. Tipoff is set for 7:30 and the game can be live streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
