AVE MARIA, Fla. — In their final game of the 2025 calendar year and non-conference finale, the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team dominated the Spring Arbor Cougars to win 96-82. The Gyrenes went on a tear in the last minute of the first half and opening minutes of the second half to build an enormous lead the Cougars couldn't come back from.
The game started very ominously with Spring Arbor going on a 12-2 run in the opening five minutes of the game. The Gyrenes went 1-for-8 from the floor during the run and turned the ball over seven times. AMU got their second basket from Michael Klekas to end the run and then hit four straight free throws to get back within a couple of possessions.
The Gyrenes stalked behind the Cougars for another five minutes before tying the game and then taking the lead with back to free throws from Jaylen White. The two teams played pretty even after the free throws, tossing the lead back and forth in the later stages of the first half.
Tied at 35 with 90 seconds remaining in the half, Ave Maria ripped off an 8-0 run with three-pointers from Klekas and Jack Watkins, and a layup from Alex Sherwood. The Gyrenes took the eight-point advantage into halftime, leading 43-35.
AMU picked up right where they left off at the start of the second half and dominated the first five minutes of the frame. Combined with their 8-0 run to end the first half, the Gyrenes outscored the Cougars 27-4 in a little over seven minutes of game time, turning a tie game into a 23-point lead. Watkins led the team in scoring during the run with nine points, but Klekas was right behind him with eight.
"We talk about it all the time: good defense leads to good offense, and bad offense leads to bad defense. I thought we were playing really good [defense] which enables us to get out in transition, and then, conversely, we had good offense which led to good defense on the other end, so it is kind of like a snowball effect," said head coach Jamon Copeland about the huge run in the middle of the game. "We were able to put together a lot of stops which enabled us to get out in transition, and then we are scoring in transition, we are able to set our [defense], set our press, and at that point we are really tough."
The Gyrenes cruised for the final 14 minutes of the game. The closest Spring Arbor ever got to the Gyrenes was pulling within 13 points, but each time Ave Maria responded with a bucket to keep the margin at double figures.
When the final buzzer sounded, Ave Maria walked off with an impressive 14-point win against a tough a Midwest school.
Klekas led the team in scoring with 23 points. Five more Gyrenes hit double figures with Marlon Bennett scoring 20, Jonathan Effertz and Watkins scoring 14, White with 13 and Alex Sherwood with 12. Effertz and Sherwood tied for the team lead in rebounds with 10, each recording a double-double. For Effertz, it is his first double-double of the season and Sherwood leads the team with seven.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 14-1 overall and finishes their non-conference schedule with a record of 11-1. That is a two-game improvement from last season, where the Gyrenes went 9-3 against teams not in the Sun Conference during the regular season.
The Gyrenes will take a couple of weeks off before returning to the court in 2026. When AMU gets back, it is straight to conference play where the Gyrenes look to defend their title from last season.
It all starts Saturday, January 3, when the Gyrenes travel to Miami Gardens to take on the Florida Memorial Lions. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
