BABSON PARK, Fla. — The Ave Maria Gyrenes ended a three-game losing streak, their longest of the season, Wednesday night with an 84-75 victory over the Webber Warriors. The win clinched a fourth place finish or better for the Gyrenes in 2024.
Wednesday night was a very even game between the Gyrenes and the Warriors, with each team leading the other for about 19 minutes in the game. The other two minutes were spent tied with each other.
Webber had the hot hand early, racing out to a ten point lead in the first four minutes of the game. Ave Maria played from behind for almost the entire first half, but was slowly creeping up on the Warriors. Finally in the last two minutes of the half, Michael Klekas nailed two free throws to tie the game up at 36.
Two more free throws from Miles Monchecourt gave Ave their first lead of the game. The junior hit a three in the final minute of the frame to give the Gyrenes a five point lead heading into the break.
Like the first, Webber started the second with a strong four minutes, going on an 11-4 run to take a 47-45 lead. However, that would be their final lead of the game as the Gyrenes took control of the game.
Monchecourt hit his second three of the game to put the Gyrenes back on top and Ave Maria never looked back after that. Webber had trouble keeping up with the Gyrenes who continually made their shots and increased their lead.
The Warriors got within five of the Gyrenes with 15 seconds left, but four good trips to the free throw line iced the game and gave Ave Maria the 84-75 win.
As a team, the Gyrenes made nine threes, making it only the sixth time this season AMU has failed to hit 10 or more threes. That brings their season total up to 337, two away from tying the second highest mark and seven away from tying the most threes in a season in program history with just one more game left in the regular season.
The big difference for the Gyrenes on Wednesday night was winning the rebound battle for the first time in four games and cashing in on second chance points. Ave Maria collected 14 offensive rebounds for 21 put back points.
Jonathan Effertz led the team in scoring with 22 points. Effertz hit four of the nine trifectas for the Gyrenes. Joining him in the double digits club is Monchecourt at 14, Jack Watkins at 13, Klekas at 10 and Jai White also at 10.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 8-5 in conference play and 19-8 overall. With Keiser losing to St. Thomas and Florida Memorial beating Southeastern, the Gyrenes are in a three way tie for second place in the conference. The Lions and the Seahawks play Saturday in the final game of the regular season and narrow down the tie from three teams to two. The Gyrenes have the tiebreaker over Keiser having split the regular season series with KU and getting a win over the regular season champion St. Thomas Bobcats, something the Seahawks do not. The Lions however, have the tiebreaker over the Gyrenes having swept Ave Maria in the regular season. The best scenario for the Gyrenes would be for both them and the Seahawks to win on Saturday, putting Ave Maria in second place in the conference and giving them a first round bye in the conference tournament.
The opponent for Ave Maria in the all important season finale is the Coastal Georgia Mariners. Ave Maria beat CCG earlier this year, scoring 62 points in the paint to win 97-84. The game can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network with tipoff set for 4 p.m.
