DELAND, Fla. – Palm Beach Atlantic men’s basketball fell behind early to the hot-shooting Stetson University Hatters on Thursday night and their valiant second-half comeback fell short, as the Sailfish fell 96-85 from the Edmunds Center.

PBA, paying their first regular-season visit to Stetson since 2010, had trouble defending the three all night, with Stetson shooting an eye-popping 50% (16-for-32) from beyond the arc. Fortunately, the Sailfish were dialed in from downtown as well, shooting 42% (13-for-31), but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.

Stetson jumped ahead in the first half and even led by as many as 25 points, but Palm Beach Atlantic battled back and made the game close in the second stanza. Trailing by 22 points with just under six minutes to go, PBA cut the lead down to 10 but simply ran out of time for the comeback to reach fruition.

The Sailfish finished the game four players in double-figures, led once again by newcomer Derick Yepes who had 16. Both Michael Simpson and Clayton Williams provided a spark from downtown, each finishing with 14 points with a combined seven threes between them, while senior Evin Graham finished his night with 10 points.

On the Stetson side, Cameron Harvey went 6-for-6 from beyond the three-point line and finished the night with 22 points. Brian Pegg netted 21 and Divine Myles ended the game with 14 points.

Palm Beach Atlantic returns to West Palm Beach for the 2014-15 home opener on Saturday afternoon as they host the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez at 4 pm in the Rubin Arena.