LAKELAND, Fla. — The buzzer sounded too early Wednesday night, cutting the Gyrenes' comeback attempt prematurely against the Southeastern Fire. With eight seconds left in the game, Ave Maria had made up 17 of the 19 points they had to get back to tie the Fire. However, two free throws from SEU and a defensive trap ended the comeback just short as the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team fell 99-95.
The first half was a disaster for the Gyrenes. Ave Maria went 2-for-17 from downtown. It is not the least amount of threes the Gyrenes have made in a half this season, but it is the worst shooting percentage at 11.76%.
On the other end of the floor, Southeastern was having no problem behind the arc, hitting eight three pointers. This disparity between the two teams is what caused Southeastern to jump out to a 19-point lead at the end of the first half, leading 59-40. What kept it from being an even bigger deficit was Ave Maria going 15-for-20 inside the arc.
Coming out of the break trailing by 19, the Gyrenes needed to start fast in the second half, and that was exactly what they did. In the first five and half minutes of the second half, AMU went on a 19-7 run to bring the deficit back down to single digits.
For the next ten minutes of the game, the two team were pretty even, matching each other almost shot for shot. The closest Ave Maria ever got in that timespan was six points while the largest the deficit got was nine. The Gyrenes couldn't get close to Southeastern, but the Fire could never put Ave Maria away.
With a little under three minutes left to play, SEU hit a three to get back to a double digit lead. Two free throws after that on the next possession built up the deficit to 12 with two and a half minutes left to play. Ave Maria had to kick it into to high gear once again to get back in the game, and that's just what they did.
In just two minutes, the Gyrenes went on a 10-0 run to make the score 94-92. Ave Maria went 4-for-5 from the field, including a three from Michael Klekas to get the run started, and forced four turnovers on the defensive side of the court.
Back within two, the Gyrenes were so close to getting back into the game. However, a three from Southeastern with 14 seconds left on the clock made it a two-possession game once again.
Nick Filchner was fouled attempting a three on the next possession and hit all three of his free throws, but Ave Maria was still down by two.
Southeastern hit both free throws after an immediate foul and didn't let Ave get a good shot at the end as the buzzer sounded, ending this one.
Had the Gyrenes comeback, it would have been the largest comeback in program history, but that record still stands at 17 from January 13, 2022, when Ave Maria beat Keiser.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 6-2 in conference play and 15-5 overall. At the halfway point of the conference season, AMU is tied for first place in the Sun Conference with Florida Memorial, but the Lions currently have the tiebreaker having won the head-to-head matchup on January 4.
Klekas led the team with 21 points. Also in double figures was Filchner and Miles Monchecourt, both at 15, Noryen Lasley at 12 and Jack Watkins at 10.
The Gyrenes are back in action Saturday, January 25, when they host the Webber Warriors. Ave Maria opened their conference schedule at Webber back in November and beat the Warriors 89-76. Webber is currently 1-7 at the halfway point of the conference season. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
