Men's Basketball 1/7/2022 6:56:00 PM J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

FMU MBB Looking To Pick Up Big Road Win At Ave Maria Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (8-5, 4-2) at Ave Maria University Gyrenes (10-6, 3-2)
When: Saturday, January 8, 2022
Where: Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Fla. | Donahue Gymnasium
Tip-off: 4 p.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 23, 2021, Loss 64-75
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University will be looking to rebound from its narrow loss Thursday by picking up a big conference win on the road this weekend when it travels to face Ave Maria University Saturday afternoon at AMU's Donahue Gymnasium.

The matchup between the Sun Conference foes will be a single men's meeting, however, instead of the originally scheduled women-men doubleheader because the Gyrenes women's team has entered health and safety protocols.

About The Lions

Florida Memorial (8-5, 4-2 The Sun Conference) opened the New Year with a solid performance against Southeastern this past Thursday but fell just short in a 77-74 loss.
Junior forward Jacobi Gordon turned in his best performance of the season, scoring 20 points while knocking down 4-of-6 three-pointers.
The loss to SEU Thursday was FMU's first home defeat of the season and only its second loss to a conference opponent.
Senior guard Corey Benton, the team's leading scorer, led the Lions with 21 points against the Fire.
FMU head coach Ansar Al-Ameen didn't have the services of guard Anfernee King and 7-foot-2 center Nicodemo Majuec Thursday, both missing the game with undisclosed injuries.
The Lions did get 7-foot senior center Mubashar Ali back in their lineup from a lower extremity injury, but he was limited to a reserve role and only played eight minutes.
Florida Memorial has been playing a cleaner brand of basketball recently, turning over the ball fewer than 10 times in each of the past three games.

Scouting Ave Maria

Ave Maria (10-6, 3-2) enters the weekend on a two-game losing streak having dropped its Thursday game 82-72 to St. Thomas University.
Since opening the season 4-0, the Gyrenes have been an average team – yo-yoing to a 6-6 record.
Still, AMU has been a solid offensive group with four different players averaging at least 12 points per game; led by Daryl Lewis' 16.6 PPG.
A guard and wing centric team, Ave Maria has just one player measuring over 6-foot-6 – 6-foot-10 sophomore Klajd Kiri – and typically looks to play with at a faster pace than most of its opponents.

Series History

The Lions trail the all-time series with Ave Maria 19-8.
Florida Memorial last topped the Gyrenes on Jan. 19, 2017, in a 80-66 win at Ave Maria.
Al-Ameen holds a 2-10 record against AMU during his career at Florida Memorial.

Keys To Victory

FMU needs to show attention to detail on the defensive end, like it did Thursday. However, the ask will be greater across the Lions' roster because Ave Maria has multiple viable scoring threats opposed to just one main scorer like Southeastern had.
The Lions should look to generate more scoring opportunities for its post players – Ali and Jethro Tshisumpa – along with sliding the 6-foot-7 Gordon and 6-foot-9 Brent Holcombe down around the basket to exploit size mismatches.

Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMU_MBB | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions

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