MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Basketball team never trailed Saturday afternoon as the Gyrenes took down the Florida Memorial Lions 90-75. Five shooters hit double figures in the dominant win.
Jack Watkins scored the opening point of the game for the Gyrenes, knocking down one of two free throws on the opening offensive possession. Ave Maria held onto that lead for the rest of the game, leading for 39 minutes and 43 seconds.
Jonathan Effertz hit the first three-pointer of the game for AMU on the next possession. The Gyrenes knocked down nine trifectas in the first half. Effertz and Watkins each hit three to lead the team. Marlon Bennett and Bradley Michel also hit from outside the arc.
The Gyrenes did not have any especially long runs in the first half but had a steady pressure of offense as they shot 56% from the field. Heading into the break, AMU lead 51-38.
Ave Maria hit two trifectas to start the second half, the second of which gave the Gyrenes their largest lead of the night at 17.
Florida Memorial challenged the Gyrenes a little bit and worked the margin down to seven points but then went cold in the final three minutes of the game. On the other side of the floor, the Gyrenes knocked down two layups and went 4-for-4 from the free throw to get the lead back up to 15 points before the game ended.
Bennett led the team in scoring with 22 points, his fifth game of the season with 20 or more points. Watkins joined him in the 20+ club with 20 points exactly. Three more players hit double figures with Michael Klekas scoring 14 points and Effertz and Alex Sherwood each scoring 11 points.
As a team, the Gyrenes knocked down 13 three-pointers, led by Watkins with four.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 15-1 overall and remains perfect at 4-0 in conference play. The Gyrenes remain tied for first place in the conference with Southeastern, who are also 4-0. Keiser is also undefeated at 3-0 but are half a game behind the Gyrenes and the Fire.
Ave Maria is back home for their next game as they host the Warner Royals Wednesday, January 7. The Royals had the day off on Saturday and are 0-3 to start their conference season. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
