AVE MARIA, Fla. (November 17, 2019) – Two days after his 34-point performance on Thursday against No. 11 Southeastern University, Webber International University men's basketball's Tommie Luke was even better on Saturday. Luke finished with 39 points, but it would not be enough as the Warriors let up triple-digits for the second game in a row and fell to Ave Maria University 105-97.

It was a great first half for Webber, which led 59-53 while shooting 63.9 percent from the field and 66.7 percent (8-12) from three after the first 20 minutes. Luke and Kevin Grace both led the Warriors with 17 points at the half as Luke was 7-of-14 from the floor to that point while Grace was 7-of-9 overall and 3-for-3 from three.

Luke would go on to finish 14-of-30 overall and was a strong 10-of-13 from the free throw line. Grace finished with 19 points on 80 percent shooting. Simon Fransis was next with 14 points on two 3-pointers while Malik Morrow added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from three.

In all, Webber shot 52.2 percent from the field, 10-of-20 from three and was 17-21 from the free throw line, and Ave Maria shot 51.4 percent from the field while connecting on 13 3-pointers. The Gyrenes' shot 56.25 percent in their big second half.

In a game that featured eight ties and nine lead changes, one of the key turning points for Ave Maria came at the start of the second half as the Gyrenes scored the first seven points of the period to take a one-point lead.

Luke answered quickly with two free throws to give Webber back the lead, and then a layup by Luke with 17:34 on the clock made it 63-60 Warriors. That would, however, be the last time the Warriors would lead as after Webber trailed by as much as five, Luke scored again to tie the game at 72 with 13-and-a-half minutes left.

A three-pointer by Fransis with 11:39 on the clock then tied things up again at 77, and back-to-back free throws by Luke tied it at 82 with 9:18 to go.

From there, it was all Ave Maria as the Gyrenes went on an 8-1 run to lead 90-83 with 7:39 remaining.

After Ave Maria pushed its lead to 10 (101-91) with three-and-a-half minutes left, the closest the Warriors would get the rest of the way was to within four at 101-97 after a six-point spurt featuring scores by Luke and Fransis and free throws by Nicholas Blocker.

Webber fell to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in The Sun Conference while Ave Maria saw its record improve to 5-1 and 1-1.

Ave Maria's Leo Behrend finished with 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field, 6-of-11 shooting from three and a 4-of-4 mark from the free throw line. It was an individual record for points in a Sun Conference game for the Gyrenes.

"Today was a very frustrating loss." said Head Coach Allen Corbin. "We must get better. Tough times don't last, tough people do." 

Next up, Webber will head to North Carolina for three road games in three days, beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 24, with the Warriors' second game of the season against their sister school St. Andrews University. The Warriors defeated the Knights by 10, 92-82, in the first meeting between the squads on November 3.