DELAND, Fla. – Jalen Blackmon scored a career-high 43 points, making 14 of 17 free throws, and Stetson defeated Austin Peay 94-91 on Sunday to win the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament and an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Blackmon's and-1 after a tough driving layup gave Stetson an 87-84 lead with 1:11 remaining. After a dunk by Austin Peay's Sai Witt, Stetson went back ahead by three when Aubin Gateretse made two free throws.
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Dezi Jones missed a 3-pointer for the Governors and Austin Peay had to foul with 34 seconds left. Blackmon made both free throws and Witt answered with a three-point play to make it 91-89. Blackmon made 3 of 4 from the line in the final 13 seconds to send Stetson to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Mad Hats. We'll see you soon.#AllHats | #GoHatters | @StetsonHatters pic.twitter.com/UYBQcUFFQx
— Stetson MBB🌴 (@StetsonMBB) March 10, 2024
Gateretse made 11 of 15 free throws and finished with 13 points along with seven rebounds. Stephan Swenson had 13 points and Alec Oglesby added 10 for the second-seeded Hatters (22-12).
Witt had 28 points and 10 rebounds and Jones had 17 and 11 for the fourth-seeded Govs (19-15). DeMarcus Sharp scored 16 off the bench, Isaac Haney had 13 and Ja’Monta Black 11.
The teams combined to score 110 points in the second half. Stetson's 94 points came with only 26 made field goals in 50 attempts. The Hatters made 32 of 42 free throws and Austin Peay went 24 for 27. There were 49 fouls in the game.
After Austin Peay went ahead 54-47 in the second half, Blackmon caught fire, scoring 16 points in four minutes as Stetson took a 65-62 lead. The Govs tied it with a three-point play by Sharp, but Stetson surged back ahead by five points.
Witt made a layup to make it 70-67 with 6:17 remaining. Neither team made another field goal until a layup by Alec Oglesby gave Stetson an 80-74 lead with a little under three minutes remaining.
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