Brooklyn, NY- The Stetson Hatters fell to the Connecticut Huskies 91-52 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, Friday afternoon.
 
Thunderstruck blasted over the speakers as the crowd in the Barclays Center was ready for the game to tip off. The Hatters finally ready to make their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Stetson found themselves trailing early before scoring their first bucket of the contest on an alley-oop by Treyton Thompson to make it 2-8. Tristan Gross was the next Hatter to score on a midrange jumper from the free throw line. Coach Jones went deep into his bench to try and find a spark as the Hatters trailed 10-46. Jalen Blackmon broke the 3-point scoring draught for the Hatters by splashing one home to make it 13-46. Blackmon followed that up with a layup starting to heat up. On the defensive end Tristan Gross made a huge block that seemed to give the team some life. Stephan Swenson hit a layup and then at the halftime buzzer he hit a step back jumper to make it 19-52.
 
Coming out of halftime the team got back to playing Stetson basketball. Swenson started the scoring in the second on a jumper to make it 21-55. After a Huskies bucket, the Hatters went on 9-0 run capped off with Aubin Gateretse slamming it home on a feed from Blackmon. At this point in the second half, Stetson was outscoring Connecticut 11-5. Swenson answered the Connecticut bucket with a driving layup to make it 32-59. He then drained a shot from beyond the arc with Gateretse banking one home from the paint on the next possession. Later in the half, Alec Oglesby hit one from the corner making it 47-83. Coach Jones with around a minute left took his starters off the court to a rousing ovation from the Stetson crowd in attendance. Both teams would run out the clock and the Hatters fell to the Huskies 91-52. In the second half Stetson was only outscored by six showing that they could compete with Connecticut when playing the Stetson brand of basketball. 
 
Stetson finishes their historic season with a 22-13 record. They won the program's first ASUN Championship and subsequently made their first NCAA Tournament appearance. This was the first-time winning 20+ games since 1974-75 when Glenn Wilkes was the Head Coach.
 
The turnout and support for this team grew with each game reaching the pinnacle when we fit more than 2300 people in the Edmunds Center for the ASUN Championship. 
 
Stetson will look to continue this recipe for success in the 2024-25 season and we hope to see you there!