The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team dropped a 101-87 decision to Ave Maria on Wednesday night at Tom Golisano Field House, falling to 10-14 overall and 4-8 in conference play.

The Mariners struggled to contain Ave Maria's Michael Klekas, who registered a game-high 36 points on an efficient 15-of-25 shooting performance. Klekas was particularly dominant in the second half, pouring in 21 points as the Gyrenes pulled away for the 14-point victory.

Isaiah Edden led Coastal Georgia with 24 points, connecting on 7-of-14 from the field including 5-of-9 from three-point range. The senior guard also contributed five rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes of action. Aamir Mack added 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, pulling down six rebounds in the losing effort.

The Mariners showed fight throughout, particularly in the opening half when they briefly held their largest lead of four points. However, Ave Maria closed the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 49-42 advantage into the break.

Coastal Georgia came out firing to start the second half, with Edden connecting on a three-pointer to cut the deficit to four points at 49-45. But the Gyrenes responded with an 18-6 run over the next five minutes to push their lead to 16 points, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Preston Crisp chipped in 13 points despite struggling from the floor, going just 3-of-12 overall but hitting 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Khylan McKennie provided a spark off the bench with 14 points in 22 minutes, including a perfect 4-of-5 performance from the charity stripe.

The Mariners shot 40.3 percent from the field and were solid from both three-point range (40.0 percent) and the free throw line (85.2 percent). However, they were outrebounded 45-37 and surrendered 48 points in the paint compared to just 32 of their own.

Ave Maria improved to 21-2 overall and 10-1 in conference play with the victory. In addition to Klekas's outburst, the Gyrenes received 14 points from Jonathan Effertz and 13 from Jack Watkins, who also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. The home team shot 50.7 percent from the floor and dominated second-chance opportunities with 18 second-chance points compared to Coastal Georgia's 11.

The Mariners will look to bounce back as they continue conference play