AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Truett McConnell men's basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak on the back end of a Florida road trip against Ave Maria, winning 91-84 over the Gyrenes Friday night. Prior to the win, the Bears fell at Florida National, 77-70, on Wednesday.
FNU 77, TMU 70
The Bears jumped out to a quick 15-10 lead over the Conquistadors early on in the contest, but Florida National stayed in the game. FNU hit a three with seconds left in the first half to take a slight 34-33 lead to the break.
The Conquistadors jumped out quickly in the second half, leading by as many as 10 points with 10 minutes left in the contest. TMU did not go quietly, however, as the Bears fought back to tie it up with 3:48 left at 65-65. FNU would go on a 7-0 run after that point to regain the lead that was never lost.
Jacob Booke led the way on Wednesday for the Bears with 17 points, while David Campbell Jr., Christian Davis and Mario Westbrooks added 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.
TMU 91, Ave Maria 84
TMU jumped out to another lead to start the game at 9-0 after three quick shots from distance on back-to-back-to-back possessions. The Gyrenes fought back to take a slight lead that would go back-and-forth for the majority of the first half.
The Bears pulled away late in the first half behind a 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead at halftime.
Then, the Bears offense really got going, jumping out to an 18-point lead with 6:04 left in the game. Ave Maria made one last run to cut the lead down to six, but the Bears hung on late to snap the streak.
Campbell led the Bears with 20 points, while Booke added 16 points. Tylor Brown tallied 11 points off the bench for TMU, which shot 52 percent from distance in the contest.
The Bears will finish 2016 with an exhibition match at NCAA Division I North Carolina Central on December 28. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
