Nashville, Tenn. – The Stetson men’s basketball team (5-6, 2-1 Atlantic Sun) never got untracked Saturday afternoon in a 82-57 loss to host Belmont (6-6, 2-1), the three-time defending A-Sun champions. Senior guard Kris Thomas (Lithonia, Ga.) led the Hatters with 15 points while junior point guard A.J. Smith (Cocoa, Fla.) added 14.

Down by 22 at halftime, the Hatters were simply no match on this day for Belmont’s three-point shooting and rebound advantage as the Bruins coasted away to win by 25.

Senior guard/forward Garfield Blair (Orlando, Fla.) contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for Stetson.  Smith had three assists and three steals.

Alex Renfroe was the top performer for Belmont with 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.  Four other Bruins reached double figures:  Matthew Dotson (15 points, five boards), Jon House (13 points), Keaton Belcher (12 points) and Shane Dansby (10 points, seven rebounds).  The Bruins shot 54.5 percent (30-55) from the field and connected on 10 of 25 three-pointers to shoot 40 percent from behind the arc.

Stetson did not score for the first two and a half minutes, but equally sluggish Bruin shooting allowed the visitors to lead 5-4 at the first media timeout.  A 10-2 run soon gave Belmont a lead it would not relinquish; the Bruins continued to pull away to a 48-26 advantage at halftime.

The Hatters are back in action Monday evening at A-Sun rival Lipscomb.  Tip-off from Allen Arena is set for 8:15 p.m. CT (9:15 p.m. ET) or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Hatter-Lady Bisons women’s game, whichever comes first.  Murray Miller will call the action on Hatter Vision (available online at www.GoHatters.com); A-Sun.TV will also broadcast the game.