KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team shocked the nation Saturday taking down the ninth ranked Cumberlands Patriots 105-103. It is the second time this calendar year the Gyrenes have beaten a top 10 team and their fifth straight win in the annual NAIA "The Show" Classic.
Much like their first game on Friday, the Gyrenes took control of the game towards the end of the first half never let it go in the second. The first half saw two lead changes and two ties from each team. The last lead for the Patriots was with a little over four minutes remaining in the opening frame. Cumberlands had been leading for about three minutes, but then a free throw from Noryen Lasley tied the game at 39. Lasley hit his second shot from the charity stripe to give the Gyrenes a lead they did not squander for the rest of the game.
The Gyrenes closed out the half outscoring Cumberlands 14-7 to take a 54-46 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Patriots worked one tie, but never retook the lead from the Gyrenes. Ave Maria was good at keeping the Cumberlands at least an arm's length away from them.
The Gyrenes started the frame off strong, scoring 41 points in the first 12 minutes of the half. With about seven and half minutes left, Jack Watkins hit a three to put AMU up 95-78, the largest lead of the night for either team.
However, over the next five minutes of the game, the Patriots showed why they were ranked ninth in the country. Cumberlands went on a 20-3 run to tie the game at 98. Ave Maria went cold from the field, going 0-for-6 during the stretch, and only scored three points from the free throw line. On the other side of the court, Cumberlands hit seven of their 10 shots, two from downtown, to work back to even with the Gyrenes with two and half minutes left to play.
Ave Maria didn't panic though and more importantly, didn't lose the lead.
The Gyrenes hit back-to-back layups from Michael Klekas and Miles Monchecourt to get back out to a two-possession lead. The Patriots worked back to within one of Ave Maria making the score 104-103.
With under 30 second to play, the Patriots tried for a go-ahead layup but missed and Klekas pulled down the defensive rebound. An immediate foul from UC sent him to the line where he made his first free throw.
Klekas missed the second free throw which kept it a two-point game. The Patriots were out of timeouts and so hurriedly rushed down the court with five seconds remaining. Cumberlands tried for another layup, but again missed, and the rebound was pulled down by Lasley to end the game, giving the Gyrenes a 105-103 win.
"I loved our guys competitive spirit this weekend," said head coach Jamon Copeland. "We played two high level, well coached teams and were able to pick up two really good wins for our program. The travel home is a lot more enjoyable after going 2-0."
Ave Maria concludes their weekend in "The Show" 2-0 and is 9-2 overall. It is the fifth straight win in annual classic for the Gyrenes dating back to 2022. It is the fourth game this season the Gyrenes have hit triple digits. Also, it is the second win in 2024 over a Top 10 team with Ave Maria taking down #9 Southwestern last season in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament.
Watkins led the team in scoring with 25 points. Five other Gyrenes hit double digits with Monchecourt scoring 19, Nick Filchner and Jonathan Effertz bringing home 14 and Klekas and Jaylen White at 10. It is the third time this season Ave Maria has had six or more shooters hit double figures.
Klekas led the team with nine rebounds, one away from a double-double.
The Gyrenes get a week off before going back on the road for a true away game against Trinity Baptist in Jacksonville, Florida, Saturday, December 7. AMU has already played the Eagles once this season, scoring a program record 142 points. This is the Gyrenes first time traveling to TBC since 2021. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on Trinity Baptist's YouTube channel, which is linked on the schedule page.
