KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The Streak continues for the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team as they won their 10^th game in a row Friday afternoon, beating the Tennessee Southern Firehawks 96-70. The Gyrenes were on fire from behind the arc, knocking down a season-high 16 three pointers.

Ave Maria never trailed in the game, scoring the first three buckets of the game and never looking back. Reigning National Defender of the Week Alex Sherwood hit the opening layup off an assist from Marlon Bennett, and it was off to the races for the Gyrenes. AMU got back-to-back three pointers from Michael Klekas and Jaylen White to take an 8-point lead.

After starting the frame with an eight-point run, the Gyrenes also ended the half with an eight-point run. Tennessee Southern had worked their way back to within one of Ave Maria. Fortunately for the Gyrenes, the Firehawks went scoreless in the last three and half minutes, going 0-for-4 from the floor and committing two turnovers. Ave Maria on the other hand got a jumper and a three-pointer from Bennett and anther three from Klekas. Heading into the break, AMU led 41-32.

The Gyrenes exploded in the second half, tying a season-high for points in a frame with 55. AMU hit 10 threes in the second half, shooting over 40% from behind the arc. Klekas led the effort from downtown in the second half, knocking down three trifectas. The other seven were from seven different shooters.

The largest run of the game for Ave Maria also resulted in their largest lead of the game. The Gyrenes scored 12 straight points to go from leading by 25 to leading by 37 with four minutes left in the game. Bradley Michel, Bradley Alcime and Pablo Hernandez all hit trifectas during the run.

Christian Pichay hit the last three of the game to get the Gyrenes up to 96 points.

Four players hit double figures in the game. Klekas led the team with 20 points, followed by Bennett at 19, White at 17 and Sherwood at 14. Sherwood also led the team in rebounds with 14 and was the only player to record a double-double, his fifth of the season.

Klekas led the team behind the arc with five of the 16 three-pointers. As a team, 16 trifectas are the most in a game since February 8, 2025, when the Gyrenes knocked down 22 triples against Warner.

With the win, Ave Maria keeps the longest winning streak in program history alive at 10-0. Ave Maria is one of 11 teams to still be undefeated in the NAIA and has the most wins among those 11 schools.

The Gyrenes will close out their stay in the NAIA "The Show" Classic Saturday morning with a 10:30 a.m. tip against the Northwestern Red Raiders. Northwestern started the year as the preseason #8 team but has since dropped to #16. They are the first ranked team Ave Maria will face this season as they look to keep the streak alive. The game will be streamed live by the Southeastern Sports Network on YouTube.