MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's basketball team could not keep up with one of The Sun Conference's best on Saturday, dropping a 94-71 decision to the Bobcats of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. The loss narrowed Ave Maria's path to a postseason berth, as the Gyrenes will now need wins in both of their final two games of the regular season to earn a bid to The Sun Conference Tournament for the fifth season in a row.

The underdog Gyrenes hung around in the first half, actually outshooting the Bobcats both from the field and from three-point territory. Ave Maria jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first four minutes of the game, although St. Thomas was able to close that gap within four more minutes. From that point, the lead traded hands on several occasions, with St. Thomas reclaiming the lead and pushing their edge to 45-38 before the horn sounded for halftime. 

St. Thomas kept the momentum going into the second half, where the Bobcats outscored the Gyrenes 49-33 to pull away. STU scored 20 of the first 28 points of the second half to expand their lead to 19 points, and Ave Maria was unable to put together a major run to challenge the Bobcats. St. Thomas made eight more three-pointers in the second half, shooting 54.1 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from long range in the final 20 minutes.

Neither team went deep into their bench on Saturday, with both teams having just six players play 20 minutes or more. St. Thomas' main advantage came from long distance, as the Bobcats knocked down 18 three-pointers, accounting for 54 of their 94 points. St. Thomas' 18 three-pointers were the most made by a Gyrene opponent this season, and the issues were compounded by the Bobcats 43.9 percent conversion rate from deep, which also marked the best percentage for an AMU opponent this season.

For the second game in a row, Michael Klekas took on a major scoring role for the Gyrenes. The freshman knocked down six three-pointers and finished with 29 points, as well as seven rebounds. Chayse Culpepper added 17 points and five rebounds, while eleven points and seven rebounds from Klajd Kiri rounded out an Ave Maria trio in double figures. That trio accounted for 57 of Ave Maria's 71 points, with Miles Monchecourt scoring eight of the other 14 points.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Gyrenes would need wins over Warner and Keiser, as well as the correct tiebreaker scenarios, to get into The Sun Conference Tournament, essentially setting up next week's games as defacto playoff games. Two wins would also lock up AMU's fifth straight season with a winning record. The first of the defacto playoff games comes Thursday night, when the Gyrenes welcome the Royals of Warner University to Donahue Gym for the home finale. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Ave Maria.