Tampa, Fla. – Stetson Men's Basketball narrowly fell to South Florida 74-72 in Tampa on Tuesday night.
"I'm really proud of our guys tonight," said Head Coach
Donnie Jones. "They competed with heart and grit against a godd South Florida team that won the American Conference last year. We made some big strides as a team, and it was clear we're growing with every game. A two-point loss stings, but it shows how close we are to turning the corner. I believe in this group and where we're headed. We'll learn from this one and keep building!"
The Hatters started off strong defensively forcing two turnovers. Off the second turnover,
Mehki Ellison made his way into the lane and scored to give Stetson a 2-0 lead. After the Bulls tied it up
Treyton Thompson grabbed an offensive board and put the Hatters back ahead. South Florida took the lead back and
Jordan Wood spun a layup home to bring the Hatters back to within two. The Bulls continued to try and pull away, but the Hatters continued to battle and keep it close with great effort on defense. Stetson went into halftime trailing 35-29.
Ellison and
Josh Massey went to work to begin the second half scoring 15 of the Hatters 17 points in the first eight minutes, however the Bulls pulled ahead by 11. Stetson trailed 68-50 but they went on a 12-0 run to close the gap the six. South Florida went back up by eight, but Ellison hit a step back three to make it 70-65. He followed it up with a driving layup after the teams traded free throws making it 72-69 with 16 seconds left. The Bulls hit their free throws and with four seconds left Massey drove the lane while also drawing contact. He made his free throw but the Hatters ran out of time, falling 74-72.
Ellison led Stetson in scoring with 19, followed by Massey with 18. Thompson and
Abramo Canka tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight. As a team the Hatters shot 47.5% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
The Hatters will now return home to host Mercer on Sunday, December 8. That game will tip off in the Edmunds Center at 3:00pm.
