Hatter Steamroll

Hatter Steamroll

Stetson blows out Trinity Baptist 109–54 in Season Opener

Made by: Jaime Suarez

The Stetson Hatters kick off their season with a bang, as they defeat the Trinity Baptist Eagles 109–54. The Hatters had already put up 27 points over the Eagles in the first 10 minutes of play. By the time the first half ended, Stetson had outscored Trinity Baptist by 38 points with a score of 59–21. After that, the Hatters never looked back, cruising their way into 50 more points in the second half.

It was night and day for both teams scoring wise, as Stetson shot continuously while Trinity Baptist struggled for scraps. The Eagles only shot 28% from the field and 18.4% from behind the line, with just 7 out of 38 three pointers made. In contrast, the Hatters shot 51% from the field and 37.1% from the three-point line. 51 out of the 109 points came off the bench, as the second and third lineups rolled in halfway through each half. Jalen Blackmon finds himself in midseason form as he led the Hatters in scoring with 21 points coming off 7 baskets, 4 triples, and 3 free throws. Aubin Gateretse handled the bulk of the rebounds when in play, recording 15 total rebounds while also scoring 10 points. Alec Oglesby had the same amount of field goal and three-point attempts as Blackmon, ending up second in scoring with 15 points off of 5 baskets, 3 triples, and 2 free throws. Stephan Swenson had a quiet night, scoring only 8 points off of 3 baskets and 2 free throws. Given the nature of the game, his scoring efforts were not as needed, allowing him to focus on managing the offense and getting the ball to their playmakers. The backups got enough action tonight as well, giving the starting lineup a breather after 10 minutes in each half. Finley Sheridan led the rookies in both scoring and rebounds, with 9 points and 7 rebounds in 14 minutes of play. Giancarlo Valdez played 15 minutes in his first regular season game since suffering an injury last year, scoring 7 points from 3 baskets and a free throw. Minnesota transfer Treyton Thompson got the start, and while he got 6 rebounds, he only mustered 4 points with a few misses in the paint. Overall, the offense was as efficient as it could get from their starting lineup, demonstrating a lot of promise considering their high aspirations for this year.

Coming off of their first winning season in 20 years, the Hatters start the season 1–0. Their upcoming slate will not be a pushover, though, as they travel to UNLV and University of Houston this weekend. These two games will be indicative of what this team can achieve versus high-end college basketball talent. With tonight’s game, the Hatters could not ask for a better start to the season.