BRADENTON, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team hit 15 threes in their road win Wednesday over New College of Florida, beating the Mighty Banyans 96-87. Eight different Gyrenes connected from behind the arc as AMU continues to lead the country in three-pointers.

Ave Maria, who rose up one spot in the Top 25 poll Wednesday morning to No. 23, was feeling good from behind the arc in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Of the Gyrenes first 10 buckets, seven of them were from three-point range. New College of Florida was able to keep pace however, hitting five threes of their own, and the Gyrenes only had a two-point lead halfway into the first frame.

In the last ten minutes before half, the tone of the game shifted, and both teams started to go cold from behind the arc. After 12 combined threes in the first ten minutes, New College only hit two while Ave Maria connected on just one. However, even with more emphasis placed inside the perimeter, the Gyrenes started to pull away from the Mighty Banyans. AMU played strong defense and put together an 11-0 run in that time span that built up a big enough lead the Gyrenes never lost.

Going into the half, Ave Maria led 54-45.

In the second half, the Gyrenes found the mojo behind the three-point line again, draining seven threes from behind the arc. Halfway into the frame, AMU went on a 9-3 run with threes from Nick Filchner, Watkins and Noryen Lasley in a row. The three from Lasley put Ave Maria up by 15 points, their largest lead of the night.

The Gyrenes hit a few more threes in the later stages of the frame, but clinched the game at the charity stripe, going 11-for-18 on free passes in the second half alone.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Gyrenes walked off the court with a 96-87 win.

Watkins and Filchner tied for the team lead in points Wednesday night, each with 17. Filchner also led the team in rebounds with 10, posting his first double-double of the season and fifth of his Ave Maria career. Two other Gyrenes put up double digit points with Michael Klekas at 16 and Jonathan Effertz at 13. Effertz and Watkins were tied for the lead from downtown, each with three threes.

With the win, Ave Maria improves to 8-2 in conference play and 17-5 overall. With Florida Memorial winning at Warner Wednesday night as well, the Gyrenes remain tied for first place in the Sun Conference with the Lions.

 The Gyrenes are home for their next game Saturday, February 1, against Florida Memorial. The winner of the game will take sole possession of first place. FMU was one of the big jumpers in Wednesday's Top 25 poll, rising from No. 22 to No. 15. Saturday will be the fifth ranked matchup of the season for the Gyrenes, with AMU going 3-1 in the first four. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.