The Hatters bounce back from their loss to Omaha, with a huge win over Florida International Tuesday night 80-68. Stetson shot 58.8% from beyond the arc in the second half as Alec Oglesby and Jalen Blackmon combined for 50 points, with the former having a season high 22. 
 
"This was a HUGE bounce back game after a tough loss on the road especially against a very good team in FIU," said Head Coach Donnie Jones. "Alec really got into rhythm and played both ends of the floor well for us." 
 
The Panthers would take an early 5-0 lead before Stephan Swenson would give the Hatters their first points by a driving layup. Blackmon would tie the game at five on a three. Two possessions later a floater from Blackmon would give the Hatters their first lead of the game 9-8. FIU took the lead back, but the Hatters would answer several times to keep the deficit at 1. Just after halfway through the half, Stetson found themselves trailing by 12. Oglesby would make his first three of the night to stop the run. The Hatters worked to cut the lead down to five, including a stretch where Aubin Gateretse scored four consecutive baskets. Back-to-back three points for Stetson from Blackmon and Oglesby would tie the game going into the half. 
 
After trading baskets to start the second half, the Hatters would pull away with two threes in a row from Oglesby and a jumper from Blackmon. Aubin followed it with a second-chance dunk and Blackmon would cap off 13-0 run with another three making it 52-41. FIU would answer with a 6-0 run of their own before Oglesby would stop the run once again with a three. FIU answered but Oglesby wasn't done as he answered with another three. After another three from FIU, Swenson answered for the Hatters this time on a layup and followed it up with a three pushing the lead to 10. The Panthers clawed back tying the game at 63. Oglesby wouldn't miss, giving the Hatters the lead back giving him a season high 22 points. On the defensive end Gateretse delivered a huge block that led to Swenson finding Tristan Gross for a three, his first bucket of the game. With the Hatters back up by six, Blackmon would hit on another jumper making it 71-63. A couple possessions later Gateretse would grab Stetson's second straight offensive rebound on a second effort and lay it in, pushing the lead back up to double digits. Blackmon extended the lead to thirteen giving him 28 on the night before the Hatters would finish off the game winning 80-68.
 
Gateretse finished the game with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. He remains near the top of the NCAA in field goal percentage after going 7-10 from the field. Blackmon continues his reign of terror over his opponents. He tallied 28 points shooting 10-22 from the field including 6-13 from three. Blackmon filled up the stat sheet collecting 6 rebounds, an assist, a block and steal. Oglesby best game of the season saw him contribute 22 points on 7-12 shooting and 6-9 from beyond the arc. He also totaled 8 rebounds and was impactful on the defensive end. Swenson's 14 assists marks a career high and he was just one point short of registering a double-double. 
 
As a team the hatters shot 45.3% from the field and 43.8% from beyond the arc while hitting 8 of their 10 free throws. They made their presence known on the boards grabbing 49 rebounds and registering six blocks. Stetson moved the ball well tallying 18 assists on their 29 shots made. 
 
The Hatters will look to keep this momentum going into a showdown with Cincinnati on Friday, Dec. 22. The game will tip off at 7pm.