The Rollins College Tars improved to 18-9 and put an end to the Florida Tech Panthers nine game win streak with a solid defensive effort in a 57-42 win over the Panthers in the SSC Quarterfinals at Silver Spurs Arena Friday. The Tars advance to the SSC Semifinals Saturday, where they will face top seed Saint Leo.
Dave Diakite led the Tars with his second double-double of the season. The senior from Washington had 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Mitch Woods continued his hot shooting in the past couple games. Woods knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to post 13 points. Woods also grabbed seven rebounds. Kyle McClanahan who was named to the first team in the conference earlier in the day scored 12 points, had six rebounds, four assists and three steals. The win stopped a three game losing skid for the Tars.
Chris Carter was the only Panther in double figures scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Julius Reed had five points and nine rebounds in the loss for a Tech team that was eighth in the last regional rankings and will not make the NCAA tournament due to a horrid 1-7 start in conference before the recent surge.
The Tars shot 44 percent (22-50 from the field) while the Panthers who came in averaging more than 80 points a game shot 23 percent (15-65.) Both teams struggled from the 3-point line. The Tars were 5 of 22, while the Panthers went four of 27. The Tars won the rebounding battle 42-38.
Offense was at a premium in the early going and the Tars led 5-3 at the 14:56 mark in the opening half. In the next couple minutes the Tars would go on a 12-2 run and open up a 17-5 lead. The Tars would maintain a 10 point lead (33-23) at the half.
The Panthers would get it into single digits early in the second half but a 12-1 Tar run would give them a 55-37 lead with 3:41 to play and they would cruise to victory.
Rollins will face a Saint Leo team that swept them in the regular season and were the co-SSC champs Saturday at 5 PM. You can catch all the action live on 91.5 FM WPRK Winter Park with Robert Seagull and Jim "Shooter" Ferro and worldwide on the Tars sports network at RollinsSports.com
Other SSC Scores:
#1 Saint Leo 68 #9Tampa 55
#2 Florida Southern 75 #7 Barry 57
#3 Eckerd 62 #6 Nova Southeastern 48
SSC Semifinals Saturday:
#1 Saint Leo (21-6) vs #5 Rollins (18-9) 5 PM
#2 Florida Southern (22-5) vs #3 Eckerd (20-6) 7:30 PM
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