Las Vegas, Nev. - For the second night in a row Stetson (3-9) could not overcome strong outside shooting and dropped its third consecutive game of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic 75-50 to the University of Arkansas-Little Rock (8-6). The Spartans hit their first seven 3-pointers and ended the night 12-for-20 (60%) from beyond the arc. As has been the norm this season Stetson did win the battle under the boards outscoring UALR 22-20 in the paint and outrebounding the Spartans 33-31.
Jermol Paul (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led the Hatters with 11 points followed by Ridge Graham (Stuart, Fla.) and Joel Naburgs (Victoria, Australia) with nine each. Corey Walden (Ormond Beach, Fla.) led the team with career-highs in rebounds with five and assists with six.
As a team UALR ended up shooting 55% (24-of-44) from the field compared to just 35% (18-for-51) for Stetson.
"I have to give a lot of credit to Little Rock they came out strong, but we just played horrible. It was a frustrating , bad game tonight", said Stetson head coach Derek Waugh. "We shot 35% and they shot 65% from three... We can't win that way. It was a frustrating way to end a tournament where I thought we did some good things and learned a lot. We will just continue to try and get better."
Next up the Hatters will return home for the Holidays and then host Lipscomb on Monday, January 3 and Belmont on Wednesday, January 5. Stetson fans can hear the games on Hatter Vision with 17-year veterans Murray Miller and Harry Arnold calling the action. Also be sure to follow the Hatters on Twitter at @StetsonSID (twitter.com/stetsonsid), "like" Stetson Athletics on Facebook and check out the official YouTube channel at youtube.com/stetsonhatters.
