Kissimmee, Florida – Shawnee State men's basketball picked up a pair of wins over the weekend, defeating Ave Maria (Fla.) 95-41 on Friday and holding off Hastings (Neb.) 78-70 on Saturday in the Johnson Suns Invitational.

The Bears would take control early on Friday, dominating Ave Maria en route to a 54-point win. Shawnee State would hold the Gyrenes to just a 27.8% field goal percentage for the game, and would go 38-62 from the floor themselves for a 61.3% field goal percentage. SSU went 7-15 from three and outrebounded AMU 42-18 to secure the win.

EJ Onu (FR/Cleveland, Ohio) led all scorers with 16 points and tied for a game high with eight rebounds. Gavin Brown (FR/Carroll, Ohio) added 15 points, Jayllen Carter (SR/Portsmouth, Ohio) had 13 and Justin Johnson (SO/Cincinnati, Ohio) had 10.

Ave Maria were led by Greenan Sullivan and Josh Flowers, who each had nine points.

SSU would have to come from behind in the first half on Saturday to beat Hastings. The Bears would trail most of the first half, but a late run would put Shawnee State up 40-36 at halftime. Shawnee State would then shoot 50.0% in the second half to hold off Hastings, hitting free throws down the stretch to win 78-70.

Tamal Watkins (SO/Columbus, Ohio) led Shawnee State with 18 points in Saturday's game. Jayllen Carter added 16 and Frederick Moore (SR/Cincinnati, Ohio) and J Murrell each had 12.

Bart Hiscock had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Hastings. Tyler Holland added 14, Zack Kitten had 12 and Connor Musiel added 10.

The wins improve Shawnee State's record to 8-3 on the season.

SSU is back in action on Monday, December 18 when they take on Lynn University (Fla.) in game one of the Florida Tech Winter Classic. Tipoff is set for 3:30pm.