Stetson was unable to complete a comeback Friday night, falling to Cincinnati 75-83 in a game that swung back and forth with each team's run. 

The Hatters took an early 10-2 lead after an offensive rebound by Treyton Thompson is dished to Jalen Blackmon for a three. Blackmon was able to get the defender to fly by him in the air before resetting himself and letting it fly. A few possessions later Thompson would get another offensive rebound on a putback dunk making it 12-6. The Bearcats would take the lead before the Hatters tie it back up at 13. Blackmon hit a layup following a smooth move but Cincinnati would take a 15-22 lead shortly after. The Hatters would answer with a small run of their own which included four points from Thompson. The Bearcats, pulled back ahead by eight but the Hatters fought back tying the game at 32. Going into the half, Stetson found themselves trailing 33-38.
 
Coming out of halftime, a Blackmon jumper and Alec Oglesby three made the score 38-40 before Cincinnati answered with a three of their own. Oglesby finished through the contact and converted his and one layup to bring the deficit to one. The Bearcats formulated another run pulling ahead by 11 with the Hatters struggling offensively. This is when Blackmon would take over scoring seven straight points working to get the Hatters back in the game. Thompson, Stephan Swenson and Blackmon all hit from beyond the arc brining the deficit down to seven each time as the defense was unable to stop Cincinnati. After Blackmon's second three in a row the Bearcats would drive down the floor drawing a foul. A small scuffle would breakout. Thompson would end up receiving a double-technical removing him from the rest of the game. At this point, Aubin Gateretse had four fouls limiting the size of Stetson in the paint for the last four minutes of the game. The Hatters continued trying to close the gap but couldn't make any headway falling 75-83.
 
Blackmon's 32 points tied his season best as he went, 10-22 from the field, 5-12 from three and 7-7 from the free throw line. Thompson was having his better games as he Hatter. He didn't miss a shot tallying 13 points. He shot three for three from the field including hitting his only three-point shot. From the stripe he went 6-6. Thompson also grabbed six rebounds while picking up an assist. Swenson led the team with 8 assists while scoring 11 points. 
 
As a team, the Hatters shot 39.6% from the field, 36% from three and 82.8% from the free throw line. Oglesby, Blackmon, Swenson, and Thompson recorded double digit points. The one area that hurt the Hatters this game was rebounding. They were out rebounded 24-40 with the Bearcats scoring 20 second chance points on their 16 offensive rebounds. 
 
Stetson will take a break over the holiday before returning home to take on Charlotte in our Holiday Hoops game. The Hatters will look to redeem themselves against the 49ers after dropping the first match up this season 62-85. That game will take place on Friday, Dec. 29 at 7pm.