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Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

FMU player
Charles Bethel Jr.
64
Florida Memorial University FMU 7-17
75
Winner Ave Maria AMU 20-10
Florida Memorial University FMU
7-17
64
Final
75
Ave Maria AMU
20-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Florida Memorial University FMU 23 41 64
Ave Maria AMU 31 44 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

Lions Fall To Ave Maria In TSC Tournament Opening Round

AVE MARIA, Fla. – Making its first appearance in the Sun Conference Postseason Tournament for the first time under head coach Ansar Al-Ameen, Florida Memorial University's men's basketball team found itself hampered by one of things that plagued it for much of the season – cold shooting – as it shot just 31 percent from the field in their 75-64 loss to host Ave Maria University Tuesday night in the TSC Tourney Opening Round.
 
The Lions, who trailed by eight at halftime and as many as 14 in the second half, made just 21 of their 67 attempted shots Tuesday. Within that was a 5-of-21 (24 percent) three-point shooting performance, marking the 10th time that they shot below 25 percent from long distance.
 
Only two FMU players scored in double digits. Senior Mubashar Ali, who will be taking advantage of the "COVID year" and will be returning to FMU in 2021-22, recorded his 13th double-double of the season with a team-high 23 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
 
Aubrey Washington, who also is likely to return next season, finished with 18 points, 2 steals, and 2 rebounds before fouling out in 34 minutes of action. 7-foot-2 freshman Nicodemo Majuec had 8 points and 11 boards while Andrew Drugan chipped in with 5 points in 10 minutes off the bench.
 
The Lions truly missed the offensive production of senior guard Sam Mack Jr. A 15 point-per-game scorer this season, Mack struggled to find his shooting stroke Tuesday – going 0-for-10 from the floor (0-for-3 from three) and finished with just 2 points and 3 turnovers in 22 minutes. It also didn't help that 6-foot-9 forward Cheikh Kebe had just 1 point and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes.
 
Ave Maria, which will play the winner of Keiser University and College of Coastal Georgia in the second round, also only had two players finish with double digit points – Eric Klekas' game-high 24 and Chayse Culpepper's season-high 22 – but had two other players finish with 9 points and another finish with 8 while the Gyrenes as a whole shot 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range, not great shooting clips but still considerably better than what Florida Memorial shot.
 
In spite of its final record, FMU and Coach Al-Ameen could sift through the season and find multiple positive takeaways and building blocks for next year. Ali is a shoo-in to receive First Team All-Sun Conference honors; the team may have found its big man of the future in Majuec, and the Lions swept its neighborhood and conference rival – St. Thomas University – during the regular season.
 
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