Photo Courtesy of Sofia Hurtado of Bethel University
MCKENZIE, Tenn. — After missing the century mark by just a point on Halloween, the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team hit triple digits for the first time this season as they beat the Tennessee Southern Firehawks 106-76. The Gyrenes once again dominated from the perimeter, knocking down 15 three-pointers in the game.
The Gyrenes got out to a very fast start, outscoring the Firehawks 26-8 in the opening 10 minutes. Tennessee Southern led twice at the start of the game, each time by two points, but that was the only time the Firehawks would have the advantage. Ave Maria then rattled off a 21-3 run to take the 18-point lead they had around the second media timeout. The Gyrenes knocked down four three-pointers during the run and punctuated the streak with an Alex Sherwood dunk, his first of the season.
The Gyrenes continued on a steady pace throughout the final 10 minutes of the first half, by the Firehawks were able to keep up with the Gyrenes pace for the most part.
Lance Rawls hit the seventh and final three-pointer of the first half to push the Gyrenes passed 50 points. It is the third straight game to start the season that the Gyrenes have scored 50 or more points in the first half.
Two more free throws gave Ave Maria a 54-35 lead heading into halftime.
Tennessee Southern worked the margin down from 19 points to 13 points in the first three and a half minutes of the second half, but that was as close as the Firehawks would get in the final frame. A three-pointer from David Olivier got the Gyrenes back on track and it was off to the races for Ave Maria.
The Gyrenes put together another extended run in the second half, outscoring UTS 16-3 to take a 30-point lead with a little over 10 minutes left to play.
With a little over five minutes to play, Rawls hit a jumper to give Ave Maria a 32-point lead, which was their largest advantage of the night. A few minutes later, Byrce Meitin knocked down a three to push the Gyrenes into triple digits for the first time in the 2026-27 campaign.
The Gyrenes got two more baskets from Maurizio D'Alessandro to get a final score of 106-76.
It is the first time the Gyrenes have scored 100 or more points since their first game in Kansas City in the Round of 16 win over LSU Shreveport. Friday was also the 50
th 100+ point game in program history for the Gyrenes, with now 26 of those games coming in the last four seasons.
Individually, Noah Lovan led the team with 16 points. Three more Gyrenes hit double figures as Marlon Bennett, Amaan Sanni and Olivier all scored 15 points. The four players combined for 11 of the team's 15 three-pointers, led by Olivier with five.
Zane McCarty led the team defensively with seven rebounds.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 3-0 on the season.
It is a quick turnaround for the Gyrenes as they are back in action from the Volunteer State Saturday afternoon taking on the Bethel Wildcats. Bethel is the host of the weekend's tournament named the Chick-Fil-A Classic and won their first game of the season Friday against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Saturday will be the first ever meeting between the two programs. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Eastern Time, 4 p.m. Central Time, and the game will be streamed live on Hudl.
