AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball Team trailed for over a quarter of the game Friday night, but the Gyrenes were still able to get the job done as they beat the Florida College Falcons 106-100. It is the third time this season, and second game in a row, that the Gyrenes have scored 100 or more points.
Ave Maria opened the game very well, scoring 33 points in the opening nine minutes. The Gyrenes went on an 18-5 run in about four minutes to get to 33 points and take an 11-point lead on the Falcons.
The Gyrenes were feeling pretty good with a double-digit lead, but the Falcons came roaring back. In the final 11 minutes of the first half, Florida College outscored Ave Maria 33-17 to take a five-point lead into the break. Florida College hit four three-pointers in that time span, totaling eight for the half. The Falcons came into the game tied with Ave Maria for the sixth-most three-pointers in a game in the NAIA, and they were hitting their perimeter shots in the opening 20 minutes.
When the buzzer sounded, the Gyrenes found themselves down for just the second time this season when heading into halftime as Florida College had a 55-50 lead.
It took a while for the Gyrenes to climb out of the five-point hole they found themselves in, but Ave Maria got it done. Florida College took the lead up to eight at one point in the opening minutes of the second half, but a 10-0 run from the Gyrenes gave them a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the night. The run consisted of three-pointers from Jonathan Effertz and Bradley Alcime, the latter of which put the Gyrenes in front 75-73.
The Falcons worked two ties after the Gyrenes took the lead, but another big run from AMU kept the Falcons an arm's length away from the Gyrenes for the rest of the night.
With less than a minute left to play, Florida College started fouling to try and prolong the game. During the subsequent free throws, Ave Maria hit triple digits for the third time this season, the second game in a row, and the second game against Florida College. The century mark was hit with a Jaylen White free throw.
Ave Maria hit six more free throws before the final buzzer to clinch the 106-100 win.
Michael Klekas led the team in scoring, matching his season-high with 25 points, which he set Wednesday night against Florida National. Four other Gyrenes joined him in double figures with Effertz logging 17, White recording 15 and Marlon Bennett and Alex Sherwood both scoring 14 points. Sherwood recorded his seventh double-double of the season by leading the team with 10 rebounds.
Defensively, Sherwood also recorded five blocks, bringing his season total up to 36, which is already the second-most blocks in a season in school history. He is eight away from tying Klajd Kiri in the 2022-23 season for the most blocks in a season.
Reflecting on the comeback win, head coach Jamon Copeland said the team understands basketball is a streaky game and they just had to start generating scoring runs. "Tonight, we got down by seven or eight and came back. We understand it's a game of runs and we are just going to try and focus on a possession at a time and they were able to do that tonight," said Copeland.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 12-1 overall and is 3-0 at home. The Gyrenes continue to stay at the top of the NAIA in wins and are tied with just Freed-Hardeman for the most wins in the country.
Ave Maria will take a week off for finals before returning to the court Tuesday, December 17, as they play host to the Truett McConnell Bears. It is the first game of a back-to-back for the Gyrenes and the first time Ave Maria will take on TMU since 2020. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
