WICHITA, Kan. — To paraphrase the 1959 hit from Wilbert Harrison, Kansas City, here we come!
For the first time in program history, the Ave Maria Men's Basketball team won their Second Round game and advance to the Round of 16 in the NAIA National Championship.
The game on Saturday was not an easy one, but a high scoring, record-breaking, intense game that saw the Gyrenes beat the Friends Falcons 108-102. It is the highest combined score of the season for Ave Maria at 210 total points.
Scoring start fast and happened often in the opening 20 minutes as the two teams raced out to a combined 123 points. Ave Maria shot 71% from the floor, their best shooting percentage of a half this season, and still trailed for the entirety of the opening frame. On the other end of the floor, the Falcons shot 65% from the field and hit a total of 24 shots, 13 of which were from behind the arc. In contrast, Ave Maria hit 22 shots, nine of which were from downtown.
The Falcons hit the first three shots of the game, all from deep, to build up a three-possession lead in the opening 65 seconds. Right before the first media timeout, Friends hit their seventh three of the game to take a 16-point lead at 23-7.
Ave Maria went on an 8-0 run to get the deficit back down to single digits but couldn't get closer than two possessions to the Falcons. Friends put the lead back into double figures for a few more minutes before Ave Maria closed the gap back down to five points at the end of the first half.
Heading into the locker room, the Gyrenes were trailing 64-59.
The shooting cooled off a little bit in the second half, but Ave Maria still hit over 50% of their shots from the field in the final 20 minutes while Friends came back down to earth with a shooting percentage of 41.94%.
Ave Maria got back within one of the Falcons after a 6-0 run that included two-pointers form Alex Sherwood and Jack Watkins. Friends missed their next shot giving AMU a chance to take their first lead of the game, but a missed shot led to a Friends' trifecta that put the lead back at two possessions.
The Gyrenes continue to trail the Falcons but were much closer than the first half. Friends' biggest lead in the final frame was just 11 points, compared to their 16-point lead in the first half. A three-pointer gave the Falcons that 11-point lead at 92-81 with eight and half minutes to play in the game. Immediately after that triple, Ave Maria went on a 16-6 run to get back within one of the Falcons. A bucket in the paint from Michael Klekas made it a one-point game with a little over four minutes left to play.
On the next Friends possession, Klekas swiped the ball away and was fouled on the other end. He hit both free throws to give Ave Maria their first lead of the game after trailing for 36 minutes.
Friends took one more lead in the final few minutes, but a layup from Sherwood put the Gyrenes back on top and then five free throws iced the game for the Gyrenes.
When the final buzzer sounded, Ave Maria walked off the court on the road to Kansas City with their first ever second round win in program history.
"Man, it's awesome. Just so excited for our guys. That we get to be together for another game, just kind of [feeling] gratitude. Kind of our theme right now is just '40 More Minutes,' because it is just such a fun group that is so connected and so close and we just wanna keep this ride going as long as we can," said head coach Jamon Copeland after the game.
Having comeback down 16 points, Saturday ties for the fifth largest comeback in program history. Ave Maria also had to battle against 20 made three-pointers from Friends which is new NAIA National Championship record for triples in a game. The Gyrenes finished with 15 trifectas of their own, led by Jonathan Effertz with five.
Watkins and Jay White led the team, each with 21 points. Effertz and Klekas were just a point behind them at 20 and Sherwood was a point behind them with 19. It is the first time this season AMU has had three or more players score 20 or more points.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 28-4 and moves on to the Round of 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, home to the national headquarters for the NAIA. Awaiting them at the Municipal Auditorium are the LSU Shreveport Pilots. LSUS earned an auto bid to the tournament as the Regular Season Champion of the Red River Athletic Conference. This year is the 21
st appearance in the National Tournament for the Pilots. The Round of 16 game will be the first ever meeting between Ave Maria and LSU Shreveport. The game is set for Friday, March 20.
