Box Score
LAKE WALES, Fla. – Despite having five double-digit scorers, the no. 22 Warner University men’s basketball team could not overcome a 22 point half time deficit against Ave Maria University falling 84-82 on Friday night. The loss drops the Royals to 16-7 (7-4 The Sun Conference) while the Gyrenes improve to 10-13 (4-7 The Sun Conference).
It was all Ave Maria in the first half, as the Gyrenes poured in 57 points on 67.7% shooting from the field. The Royals were just as efficient though shooting 66.7% but sloppy ball handling and a stingy Gyrene defense produced 11 Royal turnovers. With 10:38 left in the half Ave Maria’s Dylan Fugate nailed a three pointer to give the Gyrenes a 10 point lead. From there the lead would stretch to as many as 23 points for the Gyrenes before closing the half with a 57-35 lead.
Derell Henderson had 10 first half points on 10-10 shooting from the free throw line. Mirnes Islamovic and Ian Wilhelm rounded out the scoring with nine and eight points respectively.
The Royals would come out determined in the second half chipping away at the Gyrene lead while shooting 55.6% from the field in second half action. Ray Victor brought the game to within nine points with a jumper in the lane at 6:52 remaining in the half. The Royals would get as close as two in the waning seconds but a last second half court shot by David Westberry missed the mark and time expired.
Five Royals were in double digits including Henderson who finished with a double-double at 14 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with under a minute left. Ian Wilhelm led all Royals’ scorers with 17 points on 4-7 shooting from behind the arc. Ray Victor played his best half of basketball on the season churning out 16 points, all in the second half. Mirnes Islamovic added 14 points and nine boards while David Westberry capped off the Royals’ double digit attack with 10 points of his own.
The Gyrenes were led by two 20 point performances. Kiel Lewis led all scorers with 21 points while Jimmy Torney added 20 points before fouling out.
The Royals will be right back at it tomorrow night, Feb. 6, when they play host to Florida Memorial University as part of Homecoming weekend at Warner University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.