AVE MARIA, Fla. — For just the second time in Sun Conference history, two teams ranked in the top 10 met up as No. 4 Ave Maria hosted No. 9 Keiser. Unfortunately, round two went to the Seahawks on Saturday as the Gyrenes fell 91-84.
Before the game, Ave Maria celebrated Senior Day and honored the seven seniors on the team and three student assistants.
"They've been with us from one year, which is Bradley [Alcime], he's a grad transfer, to four years, which is Mitch [Lee], Jon [Effertz] and Mike [Klekas]. Each of them left their mark on the program no matter how long they have been here. Just their heart and soul, what they poured into it. Just so blessed, so thankful for those guys," said head coach Jamon Copeland after the game.
Saturday was a tale of two halves between the Gyrenes and Seahawks. Ave Maria controlled the first half and led for a majority of the 20 minutes. Senior Michael Klekas got the game started with a three-pointer on the opening offensive possession for AMU. The Gyrenes kept the hot streak up out of the gates and led by six twice. However, that wound up being the largest lead of the night for Ave Maria.
Keiser tied the game a few times in the first half and took one lead, but the Gyrenes always found their way back in front. Nearing the end of the half, the Seahawks hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 37. On the ensuing possession, Alex Sherwood put the Gyrenes back in front with the last basket of the half and Ave Maria took a 39-37 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Gyrenes led for 20 seconds until Keiser took a with another three-pointer. From that point on, Ave Maria was playing catch up to the Seahawks. Keiser dominated the first nine minutes of the second half, outscoring Ave Maria 29-15 and getting out to a 12-point lead.
The Gyrenes did not throw in the towel however and immediately started to make a comeback. Following a flagrant foul charged to Keiser which resulted in a senior Jack Watkins free throw, senior Jonathan Effertz knocked down his second trifecta of the night to make it an eight-point game.
Keiser responded with a layup, but them the Gyrenes rattled off a 10-0 run to tie the game at 68. Ave Maria drained four field goals, two from outside the arc, while Keiser went 0-for-3 and turned the ball over four times.
Both teams traded two points to keep the game tied, but that was the last time the game would be close. The Seahawks responded with a run of their own, outscoring Ave Maria 9-0 in two minutes while the Gyrenes went 0-for-4 from the floor.
In the final three and a half minutes, Ave Maria tried to put together one more run to make the game interesting, but Keiser had a response every time. The closest the Gyrenes got in that stretch was within six of the Seahawks as KU closed out the game.
Sherwood led the team with a season-high 20 points. Four other Gyrenes hit double figures as Effertz scored 15, Klekas logged 14, Marlon Bennett netted 11 and senior Jaylen White brought home 10. White recorded the only double-double of the night with 11 assists, which is tied for the second-most assists in game in program history.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 22-3 overall and 11-2 in conference play. The Gyrenes slipped into second place in the Sun Conference standings as Keiser jumped to first with a 12-2 record. The regular season championship is still up for grabs between the two with two games left in the regular season.
Ave Maria is back in action Wednesday, February 18, for their final home game of the regular season. The Gyrenes will take on the St. Thomas Bobcats. AMU won the first meeting between the two teams 74-70. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
