LANGSTON, Okla.- For 25 minutes, the Ave Maria Gyrenes gave the second-ranked team in the nation all they could handle.
But at the end of the day, the Gyrenes just ran out of gas against the national championship contenders from Langston University.
Langston punched their ticket to the round of 16 in Kansas City with a 91-61 victory at  C.F. Gayles Field House, outscoring the Gyrenes 44-13 in the final 15 minutes and change of the contest. The loss ended AMU's season with a record of 22-10, including the first national tournament win in school history.
In the first half, the Gyrenes did not back down whatsoever to the heavy favorites from the Sooner State. Ave Maria made each of their first five three-point attempts, and built a 25-16 lead over the Lions in the first ten and a half minutes of the game. Langston withstood that early run and closed the gap on the Gyrenes, eventually taking a 39-35 lead into the halftime break.
For the first five minutes of the second half, the Gyrenes continued hanging around with the Lions. Ave Maria held a lead as late as the 15:53 mark, when Nick Filchner made two free throws to give AMU a 48-47 lead. But from there, it was all Lions. Ave Maria made just two field goals in the final 16 minutes of the game, allowing Langston to go on the 44-13 lead that turned the game from an upset in the making to a decisive win for the top seed.
The majority of Langston's advantage came in the paint, as the Lions outscored the Gyrenes 48-24 around the basket. Ave Maria was unable to make up the distance from long range, as the Gyrenes made just two of their final 19 three-point attempts after the initial 5-for-5 flurry.
Jack Watkins finished off an excellent postseason run with 19 points, as the Texas native was the lone Gyrene in double figures. Watkins was also the top rebounder for the Gyrenes with six. Nick Filchner and Michael Klekas followed with eight points each.
The 2023-24 season was a historic one for the Gyrenes, who earned an at-large bid to the national tournament for the first time in program history. Expectations will be sky-high for the 2024-25 Gyrenes, who are scheduled to return every point, every rebound, every assist, and every minute played from this year's team, which contained zero seniors.
