CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Hatter second-half surge made it close but ultimately Stetson fell to Charleston, 65-60, Wednesday night in the TD Arena.

"After halftime, I felt we calmed down," head coach Donnie Jones said "We locked into rebounding the ball and executing our actions on off ball movement. We also were more patient on offense."

Both sides' defense affected the opposing teams early as neither side was able to get shooting on track early. The Cougars attacked the offensive glass and were able to get second chance points. CC eventually built the advantage to 10, 12-2, but a layup on the following possession by Stephan Swenson cut the deficit to eight, 12-4 with 15:09 reading on the clock. The score would sit at that mark for over three minutes until Sam Peek connected on a jumper to cut it to six, 12-6. From that point Charleston was able to push an advantage, but SU's defense kept it limited, with the first half ending with Stetson trailing by 14, 30-16.

The Hatters immediately found rhythm in the second half, and after baskets on back-to-back possessions, a jumper by Mahamadou Diawara and a three by Swenson, the advantage was cut to single digits, 30-21. A three from Luke Brown with 15:05 left cut it to a two-possession game, 34-28, but the Cougars answered with back-to-back threes to reestablish a double-digit advantage, 40-28. Stetson kept battling, and a 6-0 run had it down to two possessions again, jumpers by Wheza Panzo and Peek with a layup by Josh Smith, 40-34.

With the clock becoming more relevant, the Hatters surged, with Panzo cutting the deficit to four, 55-51. On the following possession, Jalen Blackmon knocked it down to a single basket separating the sides, 55-53, but that is as close as the Hatters got as they could not find the crucial basket to get in front and fell 65-60.

Smith paced a balanced Hatter attack with 11 points. Swenson recorded 10 points and tying a team-high three assists. Nine Hats recorded points on the evening. Peek and Diawara each grabbed eight rebounds, both coming off the bench and the latter also notching eight points. All eight of Stetson's threes were in the second half. SU recorded 12 assists on 25 made baskets.

The road trip continues for the Hatters as they will head to Athens, Ohio to face Ohio University on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.