Belmont 83, Stetson 75

1/31/2008 9:01 PM

DELAND, Fla. (AP) -Belmont's Justin Hare scored 20 points to lead four Bruins in double figures in an 83-75 victory over Stetson here Thursday night.

Hare made five of nine shots from the floor and was perfect on eight free throws. Andy Wicke added 15 points, Matthew Dotson had 12 and Alex Renfroe chipped in 10 points for Belmont, (14-8, 6-2 Atlantic Sun Conference).

Stetson was paced by Garfield Blair's 16 points. A.J. Smith contributed 13 points and Mark Lohuis had 11 for the Hatters in their first home loss of the season following six straight wins. Stetson fell to 10-12 overall and 5-3 in the A-Sun.

The Bruins made 28 of 49 shots (57.1 percent) from the floor against a Stetson team that ranked first in the conference in defense with an opponents' scoring average of 67.9 points. But Belmont, the top scoring team in the A-Sun, bettered their average of 80.7 points.

Belmont took an early 5-3 lead on a 3-pointer by Hare that sparked a 12-0 run. The Bruins led the rest of the way and had a 15-point advantage, 41-26, after a jumper by Wicke with 18:51 remaining. That was the largest lead of the game.

Stetson battled back to get within three points, 50-47, on a jumper by Eric Diaz with 12:06 left. The Hatters also got within a point, 58-57, after Lohuis made a 3-pointer with 8:07 on the clock.

But back-to-back layups by Belmont's Shane Dansby turned back Stetson's challenge.