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 automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Blackmon's and-1 after a tough layup gave Stetson an 87-84 lead with 1:11 remaining. After a dunk by Austin Peay's Sai Witt, Stetson went ahead by three when Aubin Gateretse made two free throws.
Dezi Jones missed a three-pointer for the Governors and Austin Peay had to foul out with 34 seconds left. Blackmon made both free throws and Witt responded with a three-point play to make the score 91-89. Blackmon went 3-for-4 from the line in the final 13 seconds to send Stetson to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Gateretse made 11 of 15 free throws and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Stephan Swenson scored 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 scored 13 and Ja'Monta Black 11.
The teams combined to score 110 points in the second half. Stetson's 94 points came on just 26 field goals in 50 attempts. The Hatters made 32 of 42 free throws and Austin Peay made 24 of 27. There were 49 fouls in the game.
After Austin Peay took a 54-47 lead in the second half, Blackmon caught fire, scoring 16 points in four minutes as Stetson took a 65-62 lead. The Govs tied it on a three-point play by Sharp, but Stetson went ahead by five points.
Witt made a layup to make the score 70-67 with 6:17 remaining. Neither team scored another field goal until a layup by Alec Oglesby gave Stetson an 80-74 lead with just under three minutes left.
