BABSON PARK, Fla. (December 7, 2019) – The Webber International University men's basketball team nearly put together its second upset win in a row, but instead the Warriors came up just short in the end, falling by only three points, 76-73, against an Ave Maria University team that is ranked No. 13 in NAIA Division-II and is unbeaten in Sun Conference play.

The last meeting between Webber and Ave Maria back on January 17 of last season was a 100-97 double overtime victory for the Gyrenes, and this time around it was another three-point victory for the Gyrenes on the road as ultimately Webber could not capitalize on its chance to take a lead facing a one-point deficit at 74-73 with 23.1 seconds left.

With plenty of time to get a shot off to potentially go ahead, the Warriors instead turned the ball over with only 13 seconds left before Ave Maria added two free throws.

Then, down three with nine seconds left, Webber had a force up two 3-pointers in the final seconds, but alas the Warriors' payers were not answered.

One of the biggest differences deciding the outcome was that of 3-point shots as Webber finished with only four 3-pointers on the game and shot only 20 percent from three while AMU connected on seven 3-pointers in both halves and shot 50 percent from three in the second half. The Warriors were only 1-for-10 from three in the second half themselves.

Earlier in the game, Webber had the No. 13-ranked team in the country on the ropes as the Warriors dominated the first half.

Webber led 11-3 less than four minutes into the game as AMU started 1-for-6 from the field, and then Ariel Watson already reached the 10-point mark in the game to put the Warriors up 16-8 five minutes into the action.

Seven minutes and 45 seconds into the game, the Warriors led 24-11 after an 8-0 run and were stacking up the stat sheet as Watson already had 12 points and four rebounds, Tommie Luke already had eight points and four assists, and Javonni Quince had Webber's other four points to that moment.

Webber continued to roll with nine minutes left in the first half, leading 30-17 while holding the Gyrenes to only 6-for-18 shooting (33.3 percent) from the field, and then the Warriors doubled up the score at 34-17 with 7:45 left in the half as Ave Maria's shooting percentage dipped down to 28.6 percent (6-21) at that point.

Then, with only a little over five minutes left in the opening period, Webber led by 20 points at 39-19. Webber was shooting 54.8 percent from the field to that point, was winning the rebound battle 23-10 and was holding AMU to 26.9 percent (7-26) shooting, but still the Gyrenes hung in there with five 3-pointers through the first 15 minutes.

Also interestingly enough, the Warriors valued the basketball very well in the first half and did not commit a single turnover for the first 13 minutes of the game, but that changed in the second half where Webber would commit 12 turnovers.

That, combined with the three ball, helped AMU get back into it as a 21-point lead (44-23) in the first half and a 17-point halftime lead (46-29) would not be enough for the home team to hold on.

Although Ave Maria did not cut its deficit to single digits until with 11 minutes left in the game on a 3-pointer by Marcus Montalvo to make it 57-50, it would be hard to stop the Gyrenes' momentum from there as the visiting team got to within one at 59-58 with nine minutes left following another three by Montalvo.

Late in the game, Ave Maria led by as much as seven at 70-63, but the Warriors cut their deficit to two at 72-70 on a layup by Corey Corbin with only 1:28 left on the game clock.

The two teams then traded a pair of free throws before one free throw by Luke made it 74-73 with 47 seconds to go. The Warriors then got the ball back on an offensive foul by the Gyrenes with the previously mentioned 23.1 seconds remaining.

Watson would finish with a new career-high in points as a Warrior, ending up with with 19 points while also adding eight rebounds.

Quince recorded what was the second double-double of his freshman campaign so far, ending with 14 points and a career-best 11 boards while shooting 50 percent from the field at 6-for-12.

Corbin and Luke finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Corbin was one of three Warriors with six rebounds and Luke had a season-best seven assists.

Kevin Grace had seven points and six boards and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, Jaylon Myles also had seven points with six boards and shot 50 percent from the field, and Malik Morrow added three points and five rebounds.

With the tough loss, Webber fell to 4-7 overall on the season and dipped back below .500 in Sun Conference play at 2-3. Meanwhile, Ave Maria, which already has two wins vs. top-25 nationally ranked teams under its belt this season, reached the 10-win mark overall at 10-1 and improved to a perfect 5-0 in conference play.

With Sun Conference play wrapped up for the fall portion of Webber's 2019-20 season, the Warriors will now set their sights on a stretch of four straight nonconference games heading into the New Year. The first of these four nonconference games will be a road matchup at Southeastern Baptist College at 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 12, in Laurel, Mississippi. Last season, Webber defeated Southeastern Baptist twice, first by a score of 86-76 in a neutral game in Jacksonville, Florida, in early November and then by a score of 113-84 in December in Mississippi.