NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Trailing by as many as 19 points early in the second half, Stetson rallied to get within two points with three in the final two minutes but the Hatters ran out of gas in a 92-87 loss to Lipscomb in Atlantic Sun Conference play, Thursday at Allen Arena.

Stetson (7-13, 1-4) trailed 51-32 with 19:15 to play before slowly clawing their way back into the game. Freshman Derick Newton did his best to keep the Hatters close in the second half, scoring nine straight points early in the period to get Stetson within 56-47 with 15:08 to play.

Lipscomb (5-16, 1-3) was able to regain control of the game and push its lead back up to 18 points twice before the Hatters made a late charge.

Down 78-60 with 8:52 left, Stetson went on a 10-0 run to close the gap to 78-70 with 5:28 to go. After Lipscomb pushed the lead to 83-70, consecutive three pointers by Grant Lozoya and Luke Doyle made it an 83-76 contest.

Two free throws by Newton and back-to-back triples by Cameron Harvey put the Hatters within 87-84 with two minutes to go. Stetson had a chance to tie on its next possession but misfired on a pair of attempts from long range. Lipscomb went five of six from the line in the final 19 seconds to seal the win.

For the third straight game the Hatters were done in by a slow start. Stetson missed its first eight shots from the field and was just 1 of 13 from the floor to start the game as the Bisons raced out to a built a lead they would never relinquish. The Hatters trailed 49-31 at halftime.

Newton led Stetson with 19 points, while Brian Pegg had 17 and a game-high 13 rebounds. Despite Pegg's efforts, the Hatters were outrebounded 45-32.

Lipscomb's Garrison Matthews scored a team-high 19 points.