WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Southeastern may have won both meetings in the regular season, but the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team won the game that mattered as they beat the Fire in the Sun Conference Semifinal to advance to the Championship Game. The Gyrenes avoided the traps and pitfalls that sunk them the previous two times as they won 91-84.
Ave Maria's first big run came early in the opening half. After feeling each other out for about four minutes, the Gyrenes went on a 9-0 run to take a 17-8 lead. Michael Klekas brought home five of those points with a three-pointer and a layup.
The Gyrenes pushed their lead to 11 points multiple times in the first half, but Southeastern did not go away. It took over seven minutes, but the Fire clawed their way back with a 19-8 run, tying the game at 35. After an Ave Maria turnover, Southeastern was fouled on a three-point shot and sank all three attempts to take the lead with 90 seconds remaining in the half.
The lead did not last long as the Gyrenes buried back-to-back three-pointers from Klekas and Jonathan Effertz and went to the locker room up 41-38. Despite having the lead at the break, the Gyrenes were not content that they had lost a double-digit lead and were determined to get it back.
Ave Maria came out firing in the second half and put together their largest run of the night to start the frame. In the opening four minutes and ten seconds, the Gyrenes outscored the Fire 17-3. AMU hit eight of nine shots from the field while Southeastern went 1-for-4 with three turnovers on the other end of the floor. Again, it was Klekas leading the way for the Gyrenes, scoring eight of the 17 points.
The margin remained in double figures for over eight minutes before Southeastern brought it back down to single digits. The Fire got as close as five points in the final few minutes of the game, but Ave Maria hit their shots when they needed it most and shot 80 percent from the free throw line in the second half.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Gyrenes punched their ticket to their second straight Sun Conference Championship game.
"Southeastern [has] incredible talent, [they are] incredibly well-coached. And they have gotten us twice this year," said head coach Jamon Copeland after the game. "As soon as we didn't host [the tournament] and knew we could play Southeastern again, as a competitor, you're like 'just get me one more shot at it.' They had the best of us twice and we wanted one more chance at it, one more swing at it. And just the ability, as a competitor, to get someone that has had the better of you all year, and get another chance at them, it was awesome."
Klekas led the team in scoring with 29 points, extending his career-points total to 1701, the most in program history. Two more Gyrenes joined him in double figures as Effertz dropped 17 and Alex Sherwood scored 16. Sherwood also led the team in rebounds with 11, recording his 13
th double-double of the year. That is now the most double-doubles in a singe season in Ave Maria history.
"Coming into the game, we knew if we could limit turnovers, and don't let them get out in transition, we would have ourselves a night, and that is exactly what we did," said Klekas. "[We had] nine turnovers as a team. Last week when we lost to them we had 18. So, we knew if we just cut that in half, we'd we be able to keep it a game and pull away."
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 25-4, matching last year for most wins in a single season in program history. The Gyrenes also improve to 5-1 against Southeastern in the Sun Conference and have eliminated the Fire the last three straight seasons.
The Gyrenes now turn their head to the championship game. Ave Maria will take on the tournament host and their regular season co-champion partner Keiser. The Gyrenes split the season series with the Seahawks with the road team winning both matchups. Ave Maria is looking to become the first back-to-back Sun Conference Champion since Warner won in both 2016 and 2017. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
