BRADENTON, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team won their eighth game in a row to start the season, tying their longest season opening win streak in program history. It was another low scoring first half for the Gyrenes, but AMU found their footing in the second half and cruised to an 85-69 win.
New College led for the majority of the first half, taking a 13-11 lead just pass the first media timeout and not giving it up until the final seconds of the frame. The jumper that gave the Mighty Banyans the lead was the start of a 10-3 run that put New College ahead by three possessions.
As the half went on, Ave Maria fought back and went on a frantic 8-0 run in the final two minutes to tie the game at 39 before the break. The run started with two free throws from Jonathan Effertz, followed by two jumpers from Marlon Bennett and a fast break layup from Effertz to draw even before time expired. The defense stepped up as well during the run, forcing New College to go 0-for-5 from the field during that time.
Jaylen White led the team in the first half with nine points. Michael Klekas was right behind him with eight points, hitting two of the Gyrenes' four three-pointers in the frame.
After a rather lackluster first half, the Gyrenes kicked into another gear in the second half, outscoring the Mighty Banyans by 16 points. Ave Maria had two double-digit runs in the second half to get the separation from New College. The first was a 13-0 run around the midway point of the frame. Klekas got the run started with a bucket from Klekas to tie the game at 56. After a couple of free throws to take the lead, the Gyrenes got baskets from Bennett, White, and Alex Sherwood to make it 10 points in a row. The run was capped off with a three-pointer from Klekas, the man who started the streak.
New College got back within five points following the run, but then Ave Maria went on a 10-0 run to ice the game. White was the leading scorer during this streak with two baskets and two free throws.
Jai White punctuated the game with a dunk in the final seconds, just the second dunk of the year for Ave Maria.
Jaylen White led the team in scoring with 21 points, matching his season-high for the year. Three other Gyrenes were in double figures with Klekas scoring 17, Bennett scoring 15 and Sherwood logging 12 points. Sherwood also recorded a double-double by leading the team in rebounds with 10.
With the win, Ave Maria remains perfect at 8-0 to start the year and is 2-0 in conference play. They are now tied for the longest season-opening win streak in program history, matching the eight game win streaks in 2023, 2019 and 2012. Ave Maria currently has the second-most wins in the country and is only behind the Cumberlands at 9-0.
Now that Ave Maria has caught their program record, they look to break it Saturday afternoon in their final conference game of the calendar year. The Gyrenes head north to Brunswick, Georgia, to take on the Coastal Georgia Mariners. Coastal Georgia has had a rough start to the year, going 3-5 and 1-1 in conference play.
Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
