Hot Shooting Panthers Bury Tars at Home.

It is hard to believe that just five games ago the Rollins Tars were 6-0 and leading the Sunshine State Conference. Since then the Tars have lost four of five, the latest a 87-73 loss to Florida Tech that was not even that close.
  The Tars defense that was so good for the first half of the season has given up 80+ points in three of the last five contests. The loose balls are going the way of the other team and on this night FIT was red hot from 3-point land.
 Only two Tars player's scored in double figures. Kyle McClanahan led the way with 15 points and Adam Allen had 12 before fouling out, while Dave Diakite added nine. The Tars shot 54 percent for the game, but made just 7-24 from the 3-point line. The Tars were not any better at the foul line where they shot 43 percent (6-14.) The Tars did win the rebounding battle 38-28. They had 12 assists and 19 turnovers. With the loss the Tars dropped to 15-6 overall and 7-4 in the SSC.
  The Panthers gained a split in the season series with a 3-point barrage. FIT shot 56 percent (15-27) from the 3-point line. They shot 47 percent from the floor and were 67 percent (18-27) at the free throw line. The Panthers had 15 assists and 10 turnovers. They were paced by Jermaine Jackson with 20 points, Julius Reed had 19 and nine rebounds, while Chris Carter had 18 points. Randy Echols had 10 off the bench. With the win the Panthers improved to 11-10 overall and 4-7 in the SSC.
  The Tars would lead 4-3 in the first two minutes but nothing would go right the rest of the night. FIT would go on a run and lead 19-11 with 11:35 in the opening half. The game would see the Tars pecking away at the lead in the opening half and it was between seven and nine points until the Panthers would go on a 9-0 spurt to take a 44-28 halftime lead. The Tars came out and got a dunk from Diakite to open the second half but it would be all Panthers the rest of the way. The Tars would out score FIT by 10 points in the last minute and a half to end up losing by 14.
  The Tars will travel to Lynn on Saturday to take on the Fighting Knights. Tip time is set for 4 PM. As always tune in to RollinsSports.com and 91.5 WPRK Winter Park.
Other SSC Scores:
Saint Leo 79 Florida Southern 75
Nova Southeastern 80 Palm Beach Atlantic 57
Barry 65 Lynn 61
Eckerd 71 Tampa 65 (OT)
SSC Standings:
Saint Leo 10-2 (18-4)
Florida Southern 10-2 (18-3)
Rollins 7-4 (15-6)
Eckerd 7-5 (14-6)
Nova Southeastern 4-7 (12-9)
Florida Tech 4-7 (11-10)
Barry 4-8 (10-11)
Tampa 3-8 (16-8)
Lynn 3-9 (11-11)