Ave Maria (Fla.) Punches Ticket to Quarterfinal over Pilots With Seventh 100+ Point Game this Season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Bracket | Watch On-Demand | Box Score] Ave Maria (Fla.) weathered a furious rally by LSU Shreveport (La.) and took control in the final five minutes to earn a 102-98 victory in a Round of 16 game at the 88th annual NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship at Municipal Auditorium Friday afternoon.
Ave Maria (29-4) will now face Grace (Ind.) (31-3) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT. Grace advanced by beating Cumberlands (Ky.), 82-74, in a Round of 16 game earlier Friday afternoon.
Ave Maria – making its first Round of 16 appearance in its fourth time in the National Tournament – led most of the first half, slowly extending its advantage over the Pilots to as many as 16 points. That lead came at 43-27 after a Michael Klekas 3-pointer with 2:31 to go in the half. However, LSU Shreveport fought back and closed the half with an 11-3 run over the final 2:31 to get to within 46-38 at the break.
Klekas had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Jaylen White had 13 points of his own to lead Ave Maria’s scoring in the first half. The Gyrenes – who outrebounded LSU Shreveport, 26-19, made 18 of their 38 shots (47.4 percent) in the first half, including going 14-for-23 (60.9 percent) on their two-point attempts.
Khi Wallace led the Pilots with 15 points, and Hayden Brittingham added nine points for LSU Shreveport, which made 17-of-40 from the field (42.5 percent) overall and 2-for-8 (25 percent) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
The Gyrenes seemed to have the game under control, leading 74-59 with 11:58 to go after a basket by Klekas, but the Pilots (28-6) showed their mettle by going on a 24-9 run over the next five minutes to tie the game at 83 with 6:58 still remaining in the game. The teams tied again at 85 and 87 before Alex Sherwood gave the Gyrenes the lead for good with a layup, putting Ave Maria ahead 89-87 with 4:55 left. The Gyrenes extended their lead to as many as eight points twice down the stretch, the final time coming at 101-93 on a pair of free throws by White with 23 seconds to go, to hold off LSUS and move on to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Klekas had 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ave Maria, which outrebounded LSU Shreveport, 48-36, in the game. Jack Watkins had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, White finished with 17 points and four assists, Sherwood netted 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and Jonathan Effertz pitched in 13 points, as the Gyrenes had all five starters finish in double figures. It was the seventh time this season Ave Maria has scored 100-plus points and the 49th time in program history dating back to the 2009-10 season. Over half of those 49 games (25) have come in the last three seasons for the Gyrenes.
LSU Shreveport had four players in double figures itself, led by Wallace’s 26 points and 11 rebounds. Alexzaye Johnson had 22 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Brittingham ended up with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Thaddeus Johnson scored 15 for the Pilots in the loss.
