AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team started the home season off right with a 95-67 win over the Florida National Conquistadors. Ave Maria hit 12 threes against the Conquistadors, tying a season-high this year.
FNU scored the opening points of the game and led for the first five minutes but could only get out to a six-point lead. The Gyrenes closed the gap and took over the game for good with a Jack Poirier three to go up 14-12.
In the middle of the first half, The Gyrenes went on a 14-1 run to build up a 15 point lead. The run featured two dunks from Jack Watkins and Mark Blaszczyk.
Florida National went on a run of their own to get back within five, but Ave Maria closed the half strong to take a 48-36 lead into the break.
The second half saw Ave Maria steadily grow their lead on the Conquistadors. The Gyrenes did not allow Florida National any opportunities to go on big runs and get back in the game. The longest stretch was a 7-2 run midway through the frame.
On the other side, Ave Maria seemed to score with ease. The biggest run for the Gyrenes in the second half was a 14-2 run that increased their lead to 27 points.
The Gyrenes hit two more three-pointers at the end of the game to eclipse 90 points for the third time this season.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 3-2 on the year and ends a two-game skid. Tuesday night was also the seventh straight home opener the Gyrenes have won, dating back to 2018.
Individually, Porier and Watkins led the team with 18 points. That is a career-high for Porier, who hit his first five shots from the field, four of them from behind arc. For Watkins, he has hit double figures in all five games this season. The last time he did hit double digits was January 27, 2024. That is a streak of 16 straight games with 10 or more points.
Nick Filchner was the other Gyrene in double figures with 12 points. Filchner has also hit double digits in the three games he has played this season. Filchner also led the team with nine rebounds.
As a team, Ave Maria was perfect from the charity stripe, going 13-for-13. It is the sixth time in program history the Gyrenes have hit all of their free throws in a game and the most made free throws of those six games.
The Gyrenes are on the road for their next game as they open up conference play up Saturday, November 16, against the Webber Warriors. Ave Maria swept Webber last season, winning 84-75 on the road in Babson Park. Saturday is the start of three-game stretch of conference games before the Gyrenes go back to their non-conference schedule. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
