AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Gyrenes kept their playoff hopes alive Thursday, beating the Warner Royals 80-68. A 12-0 run to start the second half lifted the Gyrenes to a safe distance from the Royals and never looked back.
In the first, it was back and forth between the two teams, with no one getting out to more than a four-point lead. Near the final seconds of the half, the Gyrenes and the Royals were tied at 31, but Klekas ripped the ball away from a Warner player with two seconds left and hit a layup right before the horn to put AMU up by two at the break.
Chayse Culpepper led the way for the Gyrenes in the first twenty minutes with 17 points and going 3-for-5 from downtown. Michael Klekas and Miles Monchecourt were both tied for second on the team with 7 points. Klekas led the team with 9 rebounds.
In the second half, the Gyrenes came out hot, going on a 12-0 run in the first two and half minutes. Klajd Kiri started the run with a layup on the first offensive possession, followed by layups from Houston and Chayse Culpepper. Now feeling pretty good from hitting three layups, the Gyrenes took their shots from downtown, with Chayse Culpepper and Lucas Uzdavinis hitting threes completing the 12-0 run and leading the Royals by 14.
From that point on, the Gyrenes always led by seven or more points, a drastically different story than the first half. Ave Maria's largest lead of the night was 15 points, a feat they hit three different times during the half.
Warner got within 10 in the final two minutes of the game and started to foul to try and extend the game, but the Gyrenes hit their free throws, drained time off the clock, and walked off the court with an 80-68 victory.
Chayse Culpepper kept up his scoring ways in the second half and was the Gyrenes leading scorer for the game with 32 points. Not only is that a career high for Culpepper, but it also ties Miles Monchecourt for the second highest point total this season. Klekas and Kiri also scored in double digits for the Gyrenes with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Both of those guys also grabbed double-digit rebounds, 15 for Kiri and 14 for Klekas, giving each of them a double-double. It's the first game since Ave Maria beat Stillman back in December that saw two Gyrenes post double doubles.
As a team, AMU pulled down 53 rebounds, which ties for the sixth highest single game total in Ave Maria history. Following Thursday's game, the Gyrenes have grabbed 1160 rebounds on the season, which is good for the second highest single season total in school history, and they still have one more game to go. If Ave Maria pulls down 36 rebounds Saturday during their final game of the regular season, seven less than their per game average this year, the Gyrenes will pass last year's team for most rebounds in a season.
With the win, AMU improves to 14-13 on the season and 6-9 in Sun Conference play. The Gyrenes playoff hopes are still alive following the win and their path is very simple: beat Keiser on Saturday and they are in the Sun Tournament as the sixth and final seed. If the Gyrenes lose, their season will be over. Tip-off for the most crucial game of the Gyrenes' season is set for 4:00 and the game can be watched on the Sun Digital Network.
