DELAND, Fla. (AP) Mahamadou Diawara scored 19 points and Stetson erased a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat NJIT 65-64 on Thursday night.

Down 43-27 less than two minutes into the second half, the Hatters went on a quick 18-4 run to close within two following a Christiaan Jones 3-pointer midway through the half.

NJIT pushed the lead back to 11 with under six minutes to play but a Rob Perry 3-pointer at the 3:22 mark capped a 12-0 run that gave Stetson its first lead, 59-58.

The Highlanders scored the next four points but at 1:34 Jones made a layup to close the cap to 62-61 and Perry hit the go-ahead jumper with 43 seconds to play. After a miss, Diawara made two free throws for a 65-62 lead. NJIT got a layup with two seconds to go.

Perry scored 14 points for Stetson (10-11, 4-2 Atlantic Sun Conference), which ended its four-game home losing streak, and Jones added 13 points.

Zach Cooks scored 16 points for the Highlanders (6-13, 3-3), San Antonio Brinson added 15 and Shyquan Gibbs 12.

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