Tars Topple Fire, Stay Perfect.

The Rollins College Tars (7-0) just keep finding ways to win. The 13th ranked Tars battled thru another injury (this time Ian Scott tweaking his back in the first half) and poor shooting to hang on for a 66-63 win at Warden Arena Friday.
 Ian Scott and Jeremy Sharpe led Rollins with 13 points each. Scott after missing nine minutes of the first half with a back injury. The story on this night in Winter Park though was Chris Malcolm. The Senior transfer from Winthrop had his second career double-double with 12 points to go along with a career high 14 rebounds. Malcolm also added five blocked shots on the night. The Tars shot 39 percent from the floor and did not shoot it well from the 3-point line shooting just 24 percent (7-29). The Tars did a better job of taking care of the ball in this one turning the ball over 16 times. Rollins struggled at the foul line shooting 65 percent (17-26).
 The Fire who are ranked 16th in the NAIA poll fell to 9-6 on the year. Povillas Gadys had 12 points to lead Southeastern. Malcolm Pollock netted 11 off of the Fire bench. The Fire shot 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from three point range. They turned the ball over 15 times and each team had 37 rebounds.
 The game started off in the Tars favor as they jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the early going. An injury to Ian Scott that caused him to miss eight minutes of the first half and a switch to a zone defense by Fire coach Jon Dunlap made things tough on the Tars. After the Fire took a brief 22-20 lead, the Tars closed the half with a 29-26 lead.
 The Fire would control the opening stages of the second half and take a five point lead with 13:38 to go. Rollins would counter as Scott Schuette would hit a pair of three pointers to give the Tars a five point lead with 9:26 to play. The Tars were stretch that lead to seven before the Fire would fight back once again to go up 59-57 with four minutes to play. Ian Scott would then be fouled and after a Fire technical make three of four free throws to give the Tars the lead. Scott and Sharpe would "ice" the victory late as the Tars stayed perfect.
 Rollins will take a perfect record to Las Vegas for the Great Western Shootout. The Tars will meet host Western Washington at 6 PM on Thursday at South Point Arena. As always you can catch all the action at RollinsSports.com