The Rollins College Tars (17-4 9-1 SSC) and Tampa Spartans (17-4 6-4 SSC) look to be two teams headed in opposite directions. The Tars 78-65 win was the 8th straight for Rollins. The loss for Tampa was their 4th in the past 5 contests after a 16-0 start.
Rollins used four double digit scorers and a solid bench effort to get the win at Warden Arena Wednesday. Nick Wolf continued his steak of consecutive games with 20 points as he hit the 20 point plateau for the 6th straight time. Wolf added 13 rebounds which made it five straight double-doubles for the Senior from Cincinnati. Matt Robertson tallied 16 points including a pair of big three's late. Ian Scott had 14 points including 8 of 8 at the charity stripe. The bench for the Tars was solid as well. Alex Castillo led the "bench bunch" with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 26 minutes. Brett Chance went 3 of 3 for 6 points in 17 minutes. Chris Malcolm added 3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in his 23 minutes. The Tar bench out scored Tampa's 21-6. The Tars shot 57% from the floor in the game including 15-20 (75%) in the second half. The Tars were 3-11 from three point land and 25-33 (76%) at the foul line. The Tars won the boards battle 35-30 and had 17 miscues. With the win Rollins improved to 11-1 at home this season.
Tampa had three players score in double figures. Anthony Griffis paced the Spartans with 28 points. Rashaad Callaway had 12 points and 7 assists but only went 3 of 11 from the floor. Fred Woods just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds. The Spartans shot a frigid 36% from the field and went 10-33 from three point land. The Spartans were 11-16 (69%) at the line and had 15 miscues.
The game started with Tampa jumping out to a early 9-2 lead. The Tars fought back though and would take there first lead at 20-19 on a Nick Wolf three point play. The lead would change hands 4 times until Tampa would take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.
The Spartans came out shooting in the second half. A pair of triples by Griffis made it 38-31 Spartans early in the second half. The Tars would once again fight back and tie the game on a pair of occasions at 39 and 46. Rollins would then go on a 12-2 run and a Matt Robertson triple would put the Tars up 10 with 7:22 to go.
The Spartans would not go quietly. Fred Woods and Griffis would nail back to back treys and the Tar lead would whittle down to 1 with 3:14 to go. Castillo would make a free throw and a Ian Scott steal and bucket would put the Tars back in command. The Tars hit 11 of 12 free throws to ice the win.
A loss by Florida Southern to FIT in overtime gives the Tars a 2 game lead in the SSC standings with six to play. The Tars were ranked sixth in the South regional rankings that came out earlier Tuesday. Three other SSC teams look to be in line for a NCAA berth if things stay this way. #2 Tampa, #3 Florida Southern and #9 Eckerd join the Tars. All three were losers on Wednesday night. Rollins will be back in action Saturday when they will face the Eckerd Tritons (15-5 6-4 SSC). Tip time is set for 4 PM at the McArthur Center.
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