Box Score

DeLAND, Fla. — A.J. Smith scored 23 points and Garfield Blair added 16 as Stetson defeated Savannah State 66-52 at the Edmunds Center before a crowd of 1,356.

The victory was the fourth in the last five games for the Hatters (12-12), while Savannah State fell to 12-13.

Chris Linton scored 11 points and Rashad Hassan 10 for the Tigers.

SSU jumped to a quick 9-2 lead in the first three minutes but Stetson whittled their deficit to one after a jumper by Kris Thomas.

The Tigers pushed their lead to 19-10 with 8:27 left but Stetson would get as close as 25-23 with just over a minute left in the first half.

Hassan made a layup with 57 seconds left and SSU went into the locker room with a 27-23 halftime advantage.

The Tigers shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening period while Stetson shot 39.1 percent.

Linton opened the scoring to start the second half which gave SSU a 29-23 lead but the Hatters ran off a 12-2 run which gave them a 35-31 lead with 15:44 left.

With the scored knotted at 37, the Hatters put together a 12-4 run to build a 49-41 cushion with 6:39 on the clock.

Stetson's lead reached double digits (55-45) with 5:21 left.

SSU was able to get as close as seven with 4:22 left but the Hatters out-scored the Tigers 11-4 the rest of the way.

Stetson shot 58.3 percent in the second period while the Tigers dipped to shoot 36.7 percent.

SSU missed all 13 3-point attempts and was 6-for-9 at the free throw line as compared to 15-for-25 for Stetson.