LAKE WALES, Fla- The Royals looked to continue their great play as they faced  the (RV) Ave Maria Gyrenes in their second conference game of the year.

The Royals looked for a big win as they faced off against the Gyrenes for their second Sun conference game of the season. The Royals had a big performance from Blaize Darling Jr; as he finished with 29 points, five rebounds, two assists on an impressive 12-17 shooting from the field. The Royals got aggressive play from Logan West as he finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, and two assists while shooting 70% from the free throw line. The Royals and the Gyrenes battled against one another as this was a thrilling game. The Gyrenes got a big performance from Jack Watkins as he finished with 25 points, three rebounds, and an assist. The Royals' bench outscored their opponents 27-21 as they got a big performance from the guys coming off the bench to keep the game close. Both teams were strong on the boards but the Royals would out rebound the Gyrenes 20-13. The Royals did everything they could down the stretch as a layup from Christian Nurse would put them up by four with less than three minutes to play in the second half. The Gyrenes were able to get two big layups down the stretch to tie the game and with the clock winding down, Nurse found himself with the ball as he would take a contested jumper at the buzzer but missed to send the game into overtime. Skyler Scull would put up 7 points on 3-4 shooting in overtime play as the Royals looked to close out this thrilling game. However, tough defense from the Gyrenes would allow the Gyrenes to come out in front of the Royals by a score of 97-95. The Royals fought hard but just fell short of the big win against Ave Maria as they look forward 

INSIDE THE GAME: Warner University vs (RV) Ave Maria University
FINAL: Royals 95, Gyrenes 97
RECORDS: Royals (9-6,1-1), Gyrenes (13-3,2-0)

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

• Blaize Darling Jr continues to lead the Royals on offense as he finished with 29 points, 5 rebounds, two assists
• Logan West  finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, two assists while shooting 7-10 from the charity stripe.
• Johnathan Joseph had a great game off the bench as he would shoot an efficient 5-6 from the field and finished with 14 points, and a rebound shooting 100% from behind the arc.
• Christian Nurse was a spark plug off the bench finishing with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists for the Royals.

UP NEXT:
The Royals look forward to their next conference game as they face off against the (RV) St.Thomas University Bobcats on Saturday, January 13th at 4:00 PM