AVE MARIA, Fla. — It wasn't necessarily the prettiest win, but it was still a win as the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team took down the Warner Royals 92-81 Wednesday night. The first half was a lot closer than the previous meeting between the two teams, but the Gyrenes put together a few good runs throughout the game to secure the victory.
Alex Sherwood got the game started by hitting a three on the very first offensive possession of the night. It was just the fifth three-pointer of the season for the big 6-foot-8 forward and got the Tom Golisano Field House rocking early.
Unfortunately, things quieted down after that as Warner grabbed their one and only lead of the game. The Royals went on an 8-2 run to take a three-point lead right before the first media timeout of the half. The Gyrenes went cold from downtown during the stretch, missing six three-point attempts as Warner pulled in front.
The lead lasted all of 1 minute and 17 seconds as Ave Maria got a layup and a drawn foul from Marlon Bennett. The junior hit his "and-one" free throw and tied the game at eight. About a minute later, Sherwood connected on a layup to give the Gyrenes a lead they would never give back.
Warner pulled even with Ave Maria one more time a few minutes later, but the Gyrenes took it right back. The Gyrenes went on a 14-3 run after the tie, taking their largest lead of the half at 11 points.
The Royals put together a few runs of their own in the later minutes of the first half and got within four points of Ave Maria with under two minutes to play in the half. The Gyrenes shut the book on comeback attempts though as they closed the frame with an 8-0 run, featuring two three-pointers from Michael Klekas and Bradley Alcime. Heading into the break, Ave Maria was up 48-36.
"A lot of times, our pressure doesn't affect teams early, but we always talk about just getting into their legs," said head coach Jamon Copeland reflecting on the run right before halftime. "Once we kind of get into their legs and get in their wind, they make fatigue mistakes and a lot of times that goes in our favor. We practice this way every day and they don't, so we want to make the game feel funky and feel different then the way they play."
The Gyrenes opened the second half strong, outscoring the Royals 15-9 before the first media timeout of the second half. That run gave Ave Maria their largest lead of the night at 18 points.
The margin stayed in double figures for most of the second half, but Warner did sneak within seven points of the Gyrenes with a little over eight minutes left to play in the game. Once again, the Gyrenes shut down any thoughts at comeback with a 12-2 run and put the margin back into double figures which iced the game. When the final buzzer sounded, the Gyrenes walked off with a decisive 11-point win over Warner.
Klekas led the team in scoring with 22 points, missing just two shots all game and going a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown. He now has over 1500 points as Gyrene and is 161 points behind AMU Hall of Famer Kiel Lewis for the most career-points in school history.
Three other Gyrenes hit double figures with Jonathan Effertz scoring 18, Sherwood at 15 and Marlon Bennett bringing home 10. Effertz also hit a milestone passing 1200 career points and is sixth all-time in program history.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 16-1 overall and remains undefeated at 5-0 in conference play. Thanks to Southeastern losing to Keiser Wednesday evening, The Gyrenes now have sole possession of first place in the standings and are half a game ahead of the Seahawks who are 4-0.
The two teams will clash in Ave Maria's next game as the Gyrenes travel to West Palm Beach to take on the Seahawks Wednesday, January 14. If Keiser beats Webber on Saturday, then the Wednesday game will be between two 5-0 teams ranked in the Top 15. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
