The Ave Maria University men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to take a lead, but fell victim to a late surge in a 86-72 defeat to the Conquistadors of Florida National University at Bucky Dent Gymnasium in Hialeah. The loss came in Ave Maria's final game before the Christmas holiday, as the Gyrenes will not play again until the SSAC-SUN Challenge at the end of the month.
Momentum swung several times in the first half, with both teams holding leads of five or more points. Ave Maria's major run came in the later portion of the half, when the Gyrenes scored seven straight points to turn a 17-15 lead for FNU into a 22-17 edge for AMU. Florida National was able to close the gap from there, evening the score at 26 before eventually hitting two three-pointers in the final 46 seconds to take a 36-30 lead into the halftime break.
Florida National seemed to have the game well in hand early in the second half, leading by as many as eleven points with 14 minutes from there. The Gyrenes had one last surge in them, though, going on a run of 23-11 to take a 66-65 lead on a Lucas Uzdavinis three with 5:28 to play. Unfortunately, that run would be the last gasp for AMU, as Florida National ended the game on a 21-6 run to emerge victorious in the non-conference battle.
The biggest difference in Wednesday night's game came in transition. The Conquistadors forced 16 Ave Maria turnovers, while turning the ball over just six times themselves. That allowed Florida National to outscore the Gyrenes 21-7 in points off turnovers, and the layups gave Florida National a 44-34 edge in points in the paint. The Conquistadors also shot the ball better, making 39.1 percent of their threes, while the Gyrenes made just 28 percent.
Four Gyrenes were in double figures Wednesday night, led by 15 points and eight rebounds from Miles Monchecourt. Lucas Uzdavinis added eleven points, while Houston Culpepper and Michael Klekas both added ten. Culpepper also pulled down ten rebounds to log his first career double-double. Culpepper was even in the rebounding department with Matt Gillis, who also grabbed ten. Monchecourt, Culpepper, and Gillis were responsible for 28 of the team's 42 rebounds on the night.
The Gyrenes now break for more than two weeks before the SSAC-SUN Challenge in Montgomery, Alabama. In the two-game event, Ave Maria will face off with Southern States Athletic Conferences foes from Stillman College and the University of Mobile. The first of those games, coming against Stillman, is set to tip off at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 29.
Original source can be found here.
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