The Hatters completed their second comeback in a row as they erased an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Bellarmine 84-77. 
 
"Our team really adjusted well defensively in the second half," said Head Coach Donnie Jones. "It was a great team effort. We were able to make big plays on both ends of the floor down the stretch to find a way to win on the road. It's very difficult but the team showed great resilience."
 
Stetson and Bellarmine started the game feeling each other out as both teams were mixing in zone and man defenses. Each time a team took the lead, the other team answered. Stetson 
Took a 13-9 lead on three from Stephan Swenson. They tried to build on it, but the Knights tied it back up at 15. The Hatters started pulling away again as Aubin Gateretse put the team up 19-15. After Bellarmine hit a bucket to make it 19-18, Josh Smith let one fly from beyond the arc giving the Hatters a four-point lead. It was at this point the Knights got red hot, where it felt like they couldn't miss. Bellarmine ended up taking a 38-49 lead into halftime shooting 63% from the field. The Hatters at the end of the first were on pace to almost hit their game average of 78 points. 
 
The Hatters came out of the second half on fire. Gateretse got to work down low and hit a layup making it 40-49. The Stetson defense held strong as Swenson and Jalen Blackmon hit threes to make it a five-point game. Swenson then hit a jumper before finding Gateretse for an alley-oop to cap off a 12-5 run making it 50-54. The Hatters continued clawing away at the Knights defense eventually getting back-to-back threes from Blackmon to tie the game at 66. Each time Bellarmine tried to pull away the Hatters tied it up. With both teams tied at 77, Blackmon once again answered the call draining a three to take an 80-77 lead with a minute left in the game. On the Hatter's next possession Blackmon would find the bottom of the net again from beyond the arc. Stetson would keep Bellarmine from scoring and close out the game 84-77. 
 
Blackmon led the Hatters in scoring with 26 points shooting 9-18 from the field and 8-14 from beyond the arc. Smith logged his second double-double of the season scoring 19 points and grabbing eleven rebounds. On his tenth rebound Smith reached the 500 career rebounds milestone. Gateretse finished with 17 points and 8 boards, and Swenson rounded out the Hatters in double figures with 13 points while adding 5 assists. As a team the Hatters shot a tick under 52% from the field 41.4% from three and 62.5% from the free throw line. The big difference for the Hatters was their rebounding as they had the size advantage over the Knights. Stetson grabbed 37 rebounds with ten of them being offensive. Those offensive rebounds led to 12 second chance points. 
 
 
Stetson will now return home and host Eastern Kentucky who sits atop the ASUN standings at 8-1 in conference play. That game will tip off at 4:45pm on Saturday Feb. 10.