WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Champions. Again.
For the second year in a row, and third time in program history, the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team claimed the Sun Conference Championship. It was a battle between the top two teams in the conference, but the Gyrenes got it done as they beat the host Keiser Seahawks 83-78.
"I love this place man. I tell people all the time, this is my dream job," said head coach Jamon Copeland. "To bring success to something you're so passionate about is awesome."
Going into Saturday's championship game, the hype was off the charts. Both Ave Maria and Keiser had split the regular season series and finished the year 13-3 in conference play. The two were declared Regular Season Co-Champions, the first time that has happened in the Sun Conference since 2022. When both teams won their respective semifinal, they set up the first ever championship game between Co-Champions in Sun Conference history.
Keiser scored the opening points of the game, but the Gyrenes immediately responded with a three-pointer from Jonathan Effertz. Ave Maria held onto that lead for the rest of the first half.
Ave Maria's lead danced between one and two possessions of the Seahawks for the first nine minutes of play. Right before the second media timeout, the Gyrenes knocked down three triples in a row, one from Marlon Bennett and the other two from Bradley Alcime, and took an 11-point lead.
The Gyrenes pushed their lead up to 13 at one point in the opening half, but a 9-0 run for the Seahawks made it a four-point game going into the break.
In the two regular season games between the Gyrenes and Seahawks, the winner was the team who took control at the start of the second half. In Saturday night's game, that team was Ave Maria.
The Gyrenes started the frame with a three-pointer from Michael Klekas. Ave Maria then went on a 12-6 run to get back up by double digits.
In the middle of the half, Keiser made a big push and took their second lead of the night with nine minutes left in the game. A layup capped a 14-2 run and put the Seahawks up 59-58.
Ave Maria responded immediately as Bennett knocked down another three just 11 seconds later to retake the lead, one the Gyrenes wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. Keiser led for just 29 seconds in Saturday's contest but were constantly nipping at the heels of the Gyrenes.
With a little over six minutes remaining, Ave Maria rattled off their last run of the game which built a big enough cushion to last the rest of regulation. Ave Maria went on a quick 5-0 run that pushed the lead up to three-possessions. Keiser never got the deficit back down to one possession during the rest of the game, as the Gyrenes hit their free throws to ice the game. Jack Watkins knocked down the final free throw to give the Gyrenes their 83-78 win.
"We [knew] we [were] going to take everybody's best shot every night. We knew we had to stick together as a team. We have amazing guys on the team who are all bought into their roles, and we knew if we just cleaned up a lot of things, we were going to have a special season," said Klekas after the game.
Five Gyrenes hit double figures in the championship game. Watkins led the team with 17 points, followed by Effertz at 15, Bennett at 14, Klekas at 13 and Jay White at 12.
As a team, Ave Maria hit 16 trifectas, tying their season high which they have hit now four times. Effertz and Bennett were tied for the team lead with four.
For the whole tournament, Klekas was named the Sun Conference MVP, finishing the two games with a combined 42 points, 18 field goals and 13 rebounds. It is the second straight year he has won MVP.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 26-4 overall, breaking the record for most wins in a season in program history. The Gyrenes are now 3-1 in Sun Conference Championship games and are the first team to go back-to-back in Sun Conference history since Warner won titles in 2016 and 2017.
The win also punches Ave Maria's ticket to the NAIA National Tournament for the third year in a row as the automatic qualifier from the Sun Conference.
"Same mindset as last year. Couple days off, rest our bodies, rest our minds. Celebrate the win of course…but we have our eyes set on a bigger trophy, bigger banner, bigger ring later on," said Watkins.
The Selection Show will air Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m. eastern time on the NAIA's YouTube channel. It is then when the Gyrenes will learn who is next on the schedule in the Round of 64.
