AVE MARIA, Fla. — Ave Maria more than doubled up the Coastal Georgia Mariners as they cruised to a 97-84 victory. The win marks the halfway point of the conference season with Ave Maria sitting on top of the standings at 6-1.
The visiting Mariners out of the Peach State came in with a defensive game plan to guard the perimeter heavily in an attempt to stifle the best three-point shooting team in the country. This was a plan the Mariners executed effectively as the Gyrenes only had three three pointer attempts in the opening 10 minutes, and only made one of them.
Fortunately for the Gyrene faithful at the Tom Golisano Field House, Ave Maria took what the Mariners gave them and started cashing in buckets near the rim.
Ave Maria hit 15 layups in the opening half to outscore the Mariners 30-10 in the paint.
Outside the perimeter, the Gyrenes were able to still hit four long shots despite the tough pressure from CCG. On the other side of the floor, the Mariners got off to one of their best three point shooting games this season to make the first half a back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes between the two teams.
With under 30 seconds left to play in the opening frame, Miles Monchecourt hit the fourth three of the game to put Ave Maria up 44-41, a lead they would take into the half.
In the second half, it was all Ave Maria as they led for the entire 20 minutes. Both teams scored on their opening two possessions to keep the margin tight, but the Gyrenes broke the game open midway through the frame getting out to a 10 point lead. AMU would stay ahead of CCG by double digits for the rest of the game.
Not to be outdone by the first half, the Gyrenes hit 18 shots in the interior, with 16 of them being layups in the paint. Ave Maria finished with 62 points in the paint, a season high and 26 more than their season average.
"Basketball is a game of opposites," said head coach Jamon Copeland following the win. "They were trying to take [the three] away, we're going to attack the opposite. So we were really just putting a focus on 'Hey, let's get to the rim' and I thought our guys did a great job adjusting."
When the final horn sounded, Ave Maria walked off the court with a 97-84 victory.
Ave Maria hit three more three pointers in the second half to bring their game total to seven. While that is on the low end for the Gyrenes this season, it does bring their season total up to 263, which is the fourth most threes in a season in Ave Maria basketball history. The Gyrenes passed the 2020-21 season, which ended with AMU hitting 261 threes, and did so in 10 fewer games.
The Gyrenes had a three-way tie for team lead in points Saturday, with Michael Klekas, Jaylen White and Monchecourt all scoring 16. Three more players finished in double figures with Jonathan Effertz hitting 15, Noryen Lasley hitting 14, and Nick Filchner recording 12. Filchner also recorded the first double-double in four games, pulling down 10 rebounds as well.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 17-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play. AMU is still in first place in the standings, now two games ahead of the Florida Memorial Lions who lost to the Keiser Seahawks on Saturday.
The Gyrenes are now finished with their first pass through the Sun Conference and will play everyone again, starting Saturday, February 3, in Lakeland against the Southeastern Fire. Ave Maria beat the Fire 101-93 in their first ever game in the newly renovated Tom Golisano Field House. The Gyrenes' next home game is the following Wednesday, February 7, against the Warner Royals. All games can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
