DELAND, Fla. – Looking for their third straight win Monday night, the Bellarmine men's basketball team controlled much of the first half, but could not hold on in the second against Stetson before falling 69-67.
 
Coming off their first two ASUN conference wins, things looked promising early as eight Knights scored in the first half. Bellarmine led by as many as 10 at 27-17 while connecting on 6 of 15 threes and 11 of 25 shots overall.
 
The high point was a 23-9 run that saw Bellarmine go from down 6-2 to up 25-15 as they connected on 8 of 13 shots and canned 5 of 8 three-pointers. The Hatters, though, would close the half on a 14-5 run, reducing the Bellarmine lead to just one at the break, 32-31.
 
It was a back-and-forth affair in the second half featuring seven lead changes. After shooting 40.0 percent in the first half, the Hatters caught fire in the second half, hitting 58.3 percent and winning the battle on the glass by six.
 
A 10-0 run by Stetson starting with 3:14 remaining ultimately doomed Bellarmine as they missed a layup, turned the ball over and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 on three straight possessions. The Knights did not score break the run until a layup by Tyler Doyle with one minute left.
 
Three threes in the final minute, two by Billy Smith and one by Jack Karasinski gave Bellarmine a fighting chance until the very end. Stetson missed a free throw with 5.6 seconds left that would have given them a three-point lead, but instead the Knights gathered the rebound before Karasinski took the ball up the court and fired a three-pointer one step across the halfcourt line, but the prayer hit high off the glass as Stetson hung on for the win on their Senior Night.
 
Smith finished with a team-best 15 points, hitting 5 of 11 threes, while Karasinski, Doyle, Myles Watkins and Landin Hacker each finished with an even 10 points. Smith handed out a game-high five assists and he and Doyle each made three steals.
 
As a team, the Knights shot 43.6 percent and 40.7 percent from three. It was their fourth straight game connecting on at least 40.0 percent from distance after having just three such games thus far in the conference slate.
 
Stetson secured their spot in next week's ASUN Championship with the win. Like the Knights, the Hatters also had five double-digit scorers, but just six overall, led by Jamie Phillips Jr.'s 17 on 7-of-12 shooting.
 
Bellarmine now heads south to Ft. Myers to conclude their season Wednesday night against Florida Gulf Coast. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN 680/105.7.
 
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