WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team lost to the Keiser Seahawks Saturday afternoon 84-69. The Gyrenes hit a cold streak in the second half only putting up 27 points across 10 made field goals.
Keiser led for a majority of the game thanks in part to a 9-2 run in the opening three minutes of the game. The two teams were even for the rest of the first half, but the early run kept the Seahakws most of the time.
The Gyrenes tied the game at 16 a few minutes later and built up a four-point lead around the half way point of the first half, but that would be the only time the Gyrenes played with the lead. Keiser retook the lead a few moments later 24-23. Ave Maria worked one more tie at 26 but never got passed the Seahawks after that. Keiser took a 46-42 lead into halftime.
The second half started out well enough for the Gyrenes, outscoring the Seahawks 18-15 in the first eight minutes of the frame to get back within one. Miles Monchecourt and Nick Filchner hit back-to-back threes to make it a 61-60 game.
However, following the Filchner three, Ave Maria went 3-for-14 from the field for the rest of the game. Only one of those three field goals were from downtown. On the other side of the court, Keiser went 11-for-16 building up a lead as big as 18-points.
When the final buzzer sounded, Ave Maria put up just 27 points in the second half to fall 84-69. Twenty-seven is the fewest amount of points scored in a half by the Gyrenes since second half of their road loss to Florida Memorial when the scored just 21.
Filchner led the team in scoring with 15 points. Four other players hit double digits with Jack Watkins and Monchecourt at 12 and Jonathan Effertz at 10.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 11-3 in conference play and 20-6 overall. The loss drops the Gyrenes out of first place in the conference and into third place behind Keiser and Florida Memorial. With two games left to play in the regular season, the best the Gyrenes can finish is tied for first place with either the Seahawks or the Lions, sharing the title of "Co-Regular Season Champions."
Ave Maria is on the road one more time Wednesday, February 19, when they take on the St. Thomas Bobcats. The Gyrenes got a gritty 81-76 win over the Bobcats at the Tom Golisano Field House back in January and look to sweep the Bobcats this season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
