Lions Hungry Heading Into Home Showdown With Ave Maria

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (5-9, 5-6) vs. Ave Maria Gyrenes (12-7, 6-4)
When: Saturday, January 23, 2021
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 4 p.m.* (30 minutes following women's game)
Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2020, Loss, 82-88
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University's men's basketball team will be looking earn what will be a bit of a "statement win" and remain on solid footing in the Sun Conference race when it hosts Ave Maria University Saturday afternoon in the FMU Wellness Center.

Set for a 4 p.m. start, Saturday's men's game will be the second in typical conference women-men doubleheader and will actually tip-off 30 minutes following the conclusion of the preceding women's game. Also, fans are prohibited from attending the game inside the Lions' Den per University health and safety protocols. The game will be streamed live online and can be viewed free of charge.

Florida Memorial (5-9, 5-6 The Sun Conference) enters Saturday's game trying to put a 77-66 loss to Keiser University behind it. The Lions fell to the Seahawks for the third this season – in a span of 17 days – in a game where it did a lot of the little things right but just couldn't hit enough shots to come away with a victory.

7-foot senior center Mubashar Ali led all scorers with 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to secure his seventh double-double of the season. He was one of four FMU players to finish with double-digit points; Cheikh Kebe had 12 while Sam Mack Jr. and Terence Clayton each had 11 points.

The Lions' ultimate undoing was the fact that it shot 38 percent from the field and 22 percent from three-point range compared to nearly 48 percent and 35 percent respectively for Keiser.

In what will be their second meeting of the year, FMU welcomes an Ave Maria team that has won its past two games and currently sits third in the Sun Conference standings. The Gyrenes are the second-highest scoring team in the conference (79.6 points per game) and have two of the conference's top five individual scorers in a Fernando Salsamendi (18 PPG) and Eric Klekas (16.5 PPG).

Florida Memorial did a good job of slowing down Klekas in the first meeting back in November, but saw Salsamendi and Matt Gills score 27 and 20 points respectively in a game that the Gyrenes controlled throughout – never allowing the Lions to get closer than four points through the second half.

One thing could work in FMU's favor Saturday is the slight difference in its roster makeup from the first time it matched up against Ave Maria. Sharpshooting guard Muhammad Gilchrist had yet to find his rhythm and only played 4 minutes during the first meeting; Italo Ciccotti was inactive; and Terence Clayton had yet to establish himself as the team's lead guard.

Ave Maria may be the most guard-heavy lineup in the Sun Conference, yet they somehow won the rebound battle against the Lions during the first meeting – something FMU head coach Ansar Al-Ameen can't allow to happen to his team Saturday, in addition to slowing down Salsamendi and Klekas.

The Lions will also need a more efficient offensive output from Mack; hopefully improving on the 11-of-35 shooting from the field – and 3-of-11 from three-point range – he's had in his past two outings.

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