AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Gyrenes never trailed in their Saturday matchup with the Southeastern Fire, but that's not to say the Fire went down quietly. SEU stormed back in the second half after being down by 19 and got within one point of Ave Maria. The Gyrenes were able to fend off the comeback though and won their conference opener 101-93.
The first half was electric for the Gyrenes, who shot 62% from the floor. Ave Maria got out to a comfortable two possession lead in the first 15 minutes before really breaking the game open. In the span of just two minutes, Ave Maria went on a 14-4 run where they could not miss from downtown. The Gyrenes took four shots from three-point range and made all of them. In total, AMU hit eight three-pointers in the first half which helped them establish a 55-43 lead at the break.
The second half got a little dicey as Southeastern continuously chipped into the Gyrene lead for much of the frame. Ave Maria hit a three in the opening minute to get back to a 15-point lead, but then went cold from long range. The Gyrenes went 0-14 from behind the arc for the next 14 minutes. Ave Maria was still hitting two-point jumpers and layups during that time, but a cold streak opened the door for Southeastern to make it a game. Slowly but surely, the Fire made it a one-point game with three minutes left to play.
Southeastern thought they had gotten the best of the Gyrenes, but then the Ave Maria defense toughened up and shut down the SEU comeback. The Gyrenes held Southeastern to only five points in the final three minutes while Michael Klekas and Miles Monchecourt connected on big layups to make the Gyrene lead multiple possessions again.
Southeastern tried fouling to stay in the game, but Klekas hit two and then Nick Filchner hit six in a row to make the final score 101-93.
Michael Klekas led the team with a career-high 31 points, which is also the most a Gyrene has scored this season as well. Filchner, Monchecourt and Jaylen White joined him in the double figures club with 20, 18 and 13 respectively. As a team, Ave Maria finished with 10 buckets behind the arc despite the cold streak, making it the 12th game out of 15 the Gyrenes have hit 10 or more three-pointers. It was also the eighth game this season the Gyrenes passed 100 points.
"We got a group that's really skilled and unselfish and we just kind of let them go," said head coach Jamon Copeland following the win. "We get [them] going fast with a lot of pace and we give them freedom…to call their own sets that we run as long as they are taking good shots, and they are sharing the ball and for a majority of the year…they are an unselfish group, and they are giving up good for great."
With the win, the Gyrenes improve to 12-3 on the year and open conference play 1-0. Not only was Saturday afternoon the first conference game for Ave Maria, but it was also the first game in the newly renovated Tom Golisano Field House. The Gyrenes waited 1,411 days between contests in the Field House and the win over Southeastern was a well-deserved reward for their patience.
"It's incredible," said Copeland about being in the new gym. "The fans were incredible, the environment, just being in a place that our home, it's been great."
Ave Maria is on the road for their next two games, first traveling north to Lake Wales to take on the Warner Royals Wednesday, January 10, and then east to West Palm Beach to battle the Keiser Seahawks Saturday, January 13. The Gyrenes' next home game is Wednesday, January 17, when they will host the Florida Memorial Lions. All games will be broadcast on the Sun Digital Network.
