THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University men's basketball team dropped its Sun Conference opener at home this afternoon as they were upset by a struggling Ave Maria (1-7, 1-0 TSC) in the 71-60 loss.
 
The Gyrenes, who picked up their first win under new head coach John Lamanna, struggled at first but eventually got their offense in motion to take its first lead, 11-10, with 12:54 left in the opening half.  Ave Maria capitalized on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to build their lead over the Night Hawks, but Thomas was not ready to surrender in the opening half of play. 
 
TU's head coach Brent Crews called a timeout with just under 10 minutes left in the first hoping to calm the squad's nerves and get them back on track.  While the Gyrenes would push their lead to 23-12 with 8:27 left, Thomas' comeback began as they retaliated with a 6-0 run of their own to cut the gap to 23-18 with 6:46 remaining on the clock.
 
Thomas continued to chip into Ave Maria's lead over the final six minutes of the opening frame, closing the half with a 10-0 run to lead 34-31 at the intermission.
 
Eleven seconds into the second half, the Gyrenes tied the game on a three by Eric Richardson and seemed to never look back.  The visitors pushed their gap to 53-44 at its height with 8:30 left in regulation, but once again the Night Hawks battled back to even the game at 53-53 just 90 seconds later.
 
The Night Hawks briefly held a 57-56 advantage, but their lone lead of the second half quickly vanished with continual fouls over the final five minutes of play.  While no Night Hawk fouled out in the contest, a flagrant foul on Jamison Williams and then a technical given to Crews allowed the Gyrenes to ice the game in the final two minutes when Exor Torres made all four of the free throws credited to those fouls.
 
At the buzzer, the Night Hawks fell to the Gyrenes 71-60.
 
Thomas (5-5, 0-1 TSC) will be back in action on the Mon., Dec. 7 as they travel to Kennesaw, Ga., to face NCAA Division I foe Kennesaw State.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
By the Numbers:
2 – Days until Thomas faces Ave Maria University
2 – Night Hawks in double figures in scoring
6 – Turnovers by Night Hawks
13 – Points scored by TU's scoring leader Javoris Cooks
28 – Total rebounds by the Night Hawks
60 – Points scored by Thomas
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by play, and feature stories of your TU men's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMBKB.