LAKELAND, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team traveled up to Lakeland to play their third straight neutral site game to start the season. However, unlike the first two games in Georgia, the Gyrenes lost Friday night to the Our Lady of the Lake Saints 103-93.
The first half saw 10 different lead changes, five from each team. After some lead exchanges to start the game, the Saints got out to an eight-point lead five minutes into the opening frame. The Gyrenes worked their way back though, going on an 11-0 run in two minutes to take a 19-16 lead. Ave hit four shots in that quick timespan, two from behind the arc. A long-range shot from Jack Watkins is what gave the Gyrenes the lead.
Our Lady of the lead ended the run with a mid-range jumper to get back with in one. Both teams went on another furious lead exchange that ended with Our Lady of the Lake taking a 26-24 lead off two free throws. Unfortunately, this was the last lead change of the game.
The Saints got out to another eight-point lead towards the end of the half, but Ave Maria was able to narrow that to a four-point lead with a Nick Filchner three with seven seconds remaining.
Out of halftime, Ave Maria managed two quick ties to start the second half but couldn't find a way to get past the Saints. Our Lady of the Lake hit a jumper to take a 54-52 lead and stayed in front for the rest of the game.
The Saints got their biggest lead of the night with a little over six minutes remaining when they went up 88-76.
Ave Maria tried to work their way back into the game in the final five minutes and got as close as five points away from the Saints with 1:18 left to go. Our Lady of the Lake hit five free throws to end the game, however, while the Gyrenes hit just one more shot from the field.
The two big difference in the game was the shooting percentages from each team in the second half and the number of points in the paint. Our Lady of the Lake hit 56.4% of their shots in the final 20 minutes while Ave Maria hit 33.3%. Over the whole game, the Saints registered 58 points in the paint to Ave Maria's 34. The Gyrenes outshot the Saints from behind the arc 10-6 on the game, but the down low points were the difference maker for the Saints.
Individually, Watkins led the team with 39 points. It is the first time since November of 2021 a Gyrene has hit more than 35 points in a game. Watkins hit 13 shots from the field, three of which were from behind the arc, and hit 10 more shots from the charity stripe. He was also second on the team in rebounds with eight.
Filchner and Jaylen White were the two other Gyrenes in double figures with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Michael Klekas led the team with nine rebounds.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 2-1. The Gyrenes stay in Lakeland for one more neutral site game at the Furnace, home to conference rival Southeastern. Ave Maria will take on the receiving votes Mobile Rams Saturday, who beat the Fire 74-62 right after Ave Maria's game with Our Lady of the Lake. The Rams are first team to receive votes in the preseason poll that the Gyrenes will see this season. Saturday will be the third ever meeting between Ave Maria and Mobile. The two split the first two games with the Gyrenes winning the most recent matchup 68-66 on December 30, 2022, in the SUN-SSAC Challenge.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
